Tag: waste heat recovery technologies

What Turbomachinery does to Avert Climate Change (Part 2 of 2)

Posted by Clement Joly

Last week I described two ways which the turbomachinery industry addresses climate change. This week, I explain two more:

  1. Waste Heat Recovery

Even though processes are becoming more and more efficient they are still mostly wasteful (Figure 1).

Figure 5 Typical energy distribution in a system
Figure 1 Typical energy distribution in a system

The excess energy from processes is eventually released into the environment but bringing down the temperature of the exhaust allows multiple things; direct reduction of the global warming potential as well as possibility to utilize this heat to boil a working fluid before running it through a turbine where it can generate some power without requiring burning additional fuel. A well-known example of such a system is the traditional gas-steam cycle that allows turning a 45% efficient gas turbine cycle into a 60% system by utilizing the gas turbine exhaust heat to boil some water in a secondary loop before passing the resulting steam through a different turbine. In the same manner waste heat recovery can be applied with different fluids (including the trending refrigerants like R134a & R245fa, steam and the state-of-the-art supercritical CO2 as shown on Figure 2) and a multitude of applications; internal combustion engines, steel production plants, marine transports, etc.

Figure 6 Example of a simple, recuperated Brayton, supercritical CO2 cycle that uses the exhaust flow of a gas turbine to heat its working fluid
Figure 2 Example of a simple, recuperated Brayton, supercritical CO2 cycle that uses the exhaust flow of a gas turbine to heat its working fluid
  1. Selection of the best working fluid

Whether it’s deciding to design the main energy conversion cycle or its waste heat recovery system one of the critical parameters to pay close attention to is the working fluid selection; good selection of the fluid will often lead to make a compromise between cost/availability, thermodynamic performance (see Figure 3) and environmental friendliness. One must make sure that the performances of the designed cycle with the chosen fluid are high enough and the fluid cheap enough to make the concept financially viable without sacrificing pollution considerations which can prove devastating in case of leaks.

Figure 7 Example of a fluid performance comparison at different temperatures
Figure 3 Example of a fluid performance comparison at different temperatures

The working fluid selection is also performed so that in addition to the environmental footprint being reduced the physical footprint is minimized as well; this is done through the selection of high density fluids (helium, SCO2­, etc.) which allows for a reduction in component size and therefore cost (as portrayed on Figure 4), – indirectly it also allows for less material being produced which also “saves trees”.

Figure 8 Example of difference in power density between supercritical carbon dioxide (left) and steam (right) for a 10 MW power turbine
Figure 4 Example of difference in power density between supercritical carbon dioxide (left) and steam (right) for a 10 MW power turbine

Innovative Boost of Larger Internal Combustion Engines

Posted by Sarah Decelle

The last few decades have brought with them a dramatic increase in the development and use of turbochargers in automobiles, trains, boats, ships, and aircrafts. There are several reasons for this growth, including rising demand for fuel efficiency, stricter regulations on emissions, and advancements in turbomachinery design. Turbochargers are appearing more and more and are replacing superchargers.

turbocharger
Turbocharger

 

Turbochargers are not the only turbomachinery technology growing in popularity in the marine, automobile, and railroad industries. Organic Rankine Cycles are being applied to take advantage of the exhaust gas energy and boost engine power output. ORCs, a system for Waste Heat Recovery, improve the overall efficiency of the vehicle, train, or boat, and reduce specific emissions.

As the size of the engines we consider increases, there is more heat available to recuperate, and more potential WHR systems to use. For instance, we can consider different combinations of these systems with both non-turbocharged and turbocharged engines. We are able to design and compare engine boost system combinations, with and without a turbocharger, with and without a blowdown turbine, and with and without a WHR system, at the cycle and turbine design levels.

In our upcoming webinar, we will do just that. We will design different combinations for larger ICEs and compare the results. This webinar will also cover introductions to these systems and application examples for supplementary power production systems in the automotive and marine industries.

We hope you can attend! Register by following the link below.

[su_button url=”http://www2.softinway.com/automotivewebinar” target=”blank” radius=”round” icon=”icon: arrow-right”]Register[/su_button]

 

Power Production Does Not Have To Be So Wasteful

Posted by Clement Joly

Whether it’s to drive you to work, power up your electronic devices, fly you to your holiday destination (extraterrestrial or not), or even set up the perfect lighting for this Valentine’s Day, your daily life requires power production. Although renewable energies are gaining popularity, many people remain unprepared to make the complete switch to these innovative power sources (except Iceland). Making the things we have more “energy efficient” or “green” has become an attractive marketing tool for many of businesses.

Presentation of the boundary conditions, unrecuperated and recuperated waste heat recovery cycles in AxCYCLE™
Presentation of the boundary conditions, unrecuperated and recuperated waste heat recovery cycles in AxCYCLE™

Continue reading “Power Production Does Not Have To Be So Wasteful” →

Waste Heat Sources + Trends

Posted by Mark.Adams
Waste Heat losses and Work Potential from Selected Processes
Waste Heat losses and Work Potential from Selected Processes

You might be able to name a few sources of waste heat, but do you know what distributes the largest content?

Waste heat losses arise both from equipment inefficiencies and from thermodynamic limitations on equipment and processes. Continue reading “Waste Heat Sources + Trends” →

Facts About Waste Heat Recovery for IC Engines

Posted by Valentine Moroz
icengines
ICengines

Last month we hosted a webinar on waste heat recovery for internal combustion engines and beyond. You can view the webinar here.

This is becoming an increasingly popular topic in our industry and we’re seeing more information being posted from other industry professionals, so we thought this would be a great time to explain some basics about this energy efficient technology.

The situation:
A large part of the energy produced in an IC engine is lost to the surroundings but the waste heat from the engine exhaust and coolant is still an attractive energy source that reaches around 60% of the total energy converted from fuel. Continue reading “Facts About Waste Heat Recovery for IC Engines” →