Steam utilization system and steam utilization method

Abstract

To provide a system contributing to a counter measure against the global warming using steam.SOLUTION: The steam utilization system comprises a combustor 7 combusting hydrogen as fuel with oxygen as combustion-supportive gas, a steam action unit 2 heating or driving an object using the heat or the pressure of steam supplied from the combustor 7, and a steam electrolysis device 6 carrying out steam electrolysis using the whole or part of steam outputted from the steam action unit 2. The hydrogen and oxygen outputted from the steam electrolysis device 6 are supplied to the combustor 7 as hydrogen used as fuel and oxygen used as combustion-supportive gas for the combustor 7, respectively.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system that utilizes steam, such as a combustion-type heating furnace. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional combustion type heating furnace, for example, a heating furnace as shown in Patent Document 1 is known.

[0003] In such combustion type heating furnaces, liquid fuels such as kerosene or gaseous fuels such as LPG or LNG are burned.

[0004] Incidentally, in recent years, attention has been focused on measures to combat global warming, and there has been active movement to curb CO2 emissions, so there is a tendency to avoid the above-mentioned fossil fuel combustion furnaces as much as possible.

[0005] One solution to this problem is to use hydrogen as fuel, because using hydrogen as fuel does not emit CO2.

[0006] Furthermore, it would be desirable to suppress the generation of CO2 when producing that hydrogen. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-21462 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] A typical method for producing hydrogen is to electrolyze water, and a highly efficient electrolysis technology known as a SOEC (Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell) type electrolysis device is used.

[0009] However, to produce hydrogen using this SOEC electrolysis device, high-temperature steam is required, and to obtain this high-temperature steam, an external heating source is necessary, which again brings with it the problem of CO2 generation.

[0010] In consideration of such problems, the present invention aims to provide a water vapor utilization system that can obtain heat and power highly efficiently by using water vapor through hydrogen combustion without generating CO2. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The first aspect of the present invention is A combustion device that uses hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as a combustion supporting gas; A steam action unit that uses the heat or pressure of the steam supplied from the combustion appliance to heat or drive an object; a steam electrolysis device that performs steam electrolysis by utilizing all or a part of the water vapor output from the water vapor action unit, The water vapor utilization system is characterized in that the hydrogen and oxygen output from the steam electrolysis device are supplied to the combustion appliance as hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as combustion supporting gas for the combustion appliance.

[0012] The second aspect of the present invention is In the first aspect of the present invention, the water vapor utilization system is a heating chamber that utilizes the heat of the water vapor supplied from the combustion appliance to heat an object to be heated.

[0013] The third aspect of the present invention is The second aspect of the present invention is a system for utilizing water vapor, wherein the heating chamber is a heating chamber of an industrial furnace.

[0014] The fourth aspect of the present invention is In a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a water vapor utilization system, wherein a blower for circulating the water vapor is provided between the heating chamber and the steam electrolysis device.

[0015] The fifth aspect of the present invention is This is a fourth steam utilization system of the present invention, in which a portion (g1) of the steam discharged from the blower is supplied to the steam electrolysis device, and the remaining portion (g2) of the steam is supplied directly to the combustion appliance or the heating chamber as steam.

[0016] The sixth aspect of the present invention is This is a fifth steam utilization system of the present invention, in which the air flow rate of the blower is adjustable and / or the ratio of the steam (g1) supplied to the steam electrolysis device and the steam (g2) supplied to the combustion appliance or the heating chamber is adjustable so that the temperature of the steam output from the heating chamber becomes a predetermined temperature.

[0017] The seventh aspect of the present invention is In the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for utilizing water vapor, wherein the industrial furnace is any one of a heating furnace, a distillation furnace, a hardening furnace, and a melting furnace.

[0018] The eighth aspect of the present invention is This is the seventh system for utilizing water vapor of the present invention, in which the heating chamber is filled with water vapor at a predetermined temperature at the time of start-up.

[0019] The ninth aspect of the present invention is In the first aspect of the present invention, the water vapor utilization system is a drive unit that drives an object by utilizing the pressure of the water vapor supplied from the combustion appliance.

[0020] The tenth aspect of the present invention is A ninth aspect of the present invention is a water vapor utilization system, wherein the driving unit is an engine driving unit.

[0021] The eleventh aspect of the present invention is According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a steam utilization system, wherein the driving part is a gas turbine blade part.

[0022] The twelfth aspect of the present invention is The steam electrolysis device is an SOEC type electrolysis device, which is a water vapor utilization system according to any one of the first to eleventh aspects of the present invention.

[0023] The thirteenth aspect of the present invention is a combustion step of burning hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as a combustion supporting gas; A steam action process for heating or driving an object by utilizing the heat or pressure of the steam supplied from the combustion process; a steam electrolysis step of performing steam electrolysis using all or a part of the steam output from the steam action step, 2. A method for utilizing water vapor, comprising the steps of: supplying hydrogen and oxygen output from the steam electrolysis step to the combustion step as hydrogen as a fuel and oxygen as a combustion supporting gas in the combustion step; Effect of the Invention

[0024] By utilizing water vapor, the present invention can obtain heat and power highly efficiently through hydrogen combustion without generating CO2. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0025] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a water vapor utilization system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a water vapor utilization system according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a water vapor utilization system according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a water vapor utilization system according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a water vapor utilization system according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0027] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system for utilizing water vapor according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a heating furnace is utilized.

[0028] The system of this embodiment includes an industrial furnace 1, a blower 5, and a steam electrolysis device 6. The industrial furnace 1 is, for example, a heating furnace, a distillation furnace, a hardening furnace, or a melting furnace.

[0029] This industrial furnace 1 is equipped with a heating chamber 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped or cylindrical shape, and this heating chamber 2 has a furnace wall (radiation surface) 4 and an object to be heated (heat receiving surface) 3. This object to be heated (heat receiving surface) 3 is provided on the lower side, and the furnace wall (radiation surface) 4 is provided on the upper and lateral sides.

[0030] A combustion device 7 is attached to a furnace wall 4 on the side of the heating furnace 1, and combustion gas (steam) is supplied from there to the inside of the heating chamber 2.

[0031] As described later, the combustion device 7 is a device that burns hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as a combustion supporting gas, and supplies the resulting high-temperature steam to the heating chamber 2.

[0032] The blower 5 is a device that takes in the steam output from the heating chamber 2 through a steam pipe 10 and blows it to the outside.

[0033] The steam electrolysis device 6 is a device that takes in a part g1 of the water vapor sent out from the blower 5, performs steam electrolysis, and generates hydrogen and oxygen. The electrolytic current device 12 is a device that supplies power for causing electrolysis in the steam electrolysis device 6.

[0034] The hydrogen and oxygen produced by the steam electrolysis device 6 are sent to the combustion device 7 through a hydrogen pipe 8 and an oxygen pipe 9 .

[0035] On the other hand, the remaining part g2 of the water vapor sent out from the blower 5 is sent directly to the combustion appliance 7.

[0036] Reference numeral 13 denotes a control unit such as a computer, which is a device for carrying out various controls over the blower device 5 as will be described later.

[0037] Next, the operation of the heating device of this embodiment will be described. Let G1 (unit: m 3 N / h), the amount of water vapor input to the steam electrolysis device 6 is g1 (unit: m 3 N / h), and the amount of water vapor supplied directly from the blower 5 to the combustion appliance 7 is g2 (unit: m 3 N / h).

[0038] In the combustion device 7, high-temperature steam generated by burning hydrogen obtained from the steam electrolysis device 6 as fuel and oxygen as a combustion supporting gas, as described below, is supplied to the heating chamber 2 together with high-temperature steam g2 obtained directly from the blower 5.

[0039] As a result, the water vapor near the entrance of the heating chamber 2 (near the combustion appliance 7) has a calorific value Q1 (unit: kW), a total gas amount G1 (g1+g2), and a gas temperature T1 (unit: °C) of, for example, 1200°C.

[0040] Steam having such characteristics heats the object 3 with a heat quantity Q2 that is 70% of the heat quantity Q1.

[0041] The remaining 30% of the heat quantity Q3 becomes water vapor with a gas amount G1 (g1+g2) and a gas temperature T2 of, for example, 800° C. near the outlet of the heating chamber 2.

[0042] Such high-temperature steam at 800° C. is input to the blower 5 through the steam pipe 10.

[0043] The blower 5 outputs water vapor having a gas amount G1 (g1+g2) and a temperature T2=800° C. at a predetermined pressure.

[0044] At this time, a part of the gas amount G1, that is, a water vapor amount g1, is sent to the steam electrolysis device 6, while the remaining water vapor amount g2 is supplied directly to the combustion appliance 7 through the water vapor pipe 11.

[0045] The steam electrolysis device 6 to which the amount g1 of water vapor at temperature T2=800° C. is fed is, for example, an SOEC type electrolysis device, and since the electrolysis involves the electrolysis of water vapor at a high temperature of 800° C., the electrolysis can be performed with high efficiency.

[0046] The hydrogen obtained by the electrolysis is supplied to the combustion device 7 through a hydrogen pipe 8, and the oxygen obtained by the electrolysis is supplied to the combustion device 7 as a combustion supporting gas, where the hydrogen is combusted.

[0047] The amount g2 of high-temperature steam supplied directly to the combustion device 7 can be called circulating steam, and has the following meaning.

[0048] In other words, if we assume that oxygen from the air, rather than pure oxygen, is used as the combustion supporting gas for burning hydrogen, and that the required amount of heat is obtained under appropriate conditions in the heating chamber, the total amount of gas in the heating chamber will be greater by the presence of nitrogen, but if pure oxygen is used as in the above example to obtain the same required amount of heat, the total amount of gas in the heating chamber will be 1 / 3.5 times smaller than when air is used.

[0049] As a result, local overheating may occur. Therefore, in the above embodiment, the circulation steam g2 is used as a method for preventing such local overheating.

[0050] If the amount of circulating steam g2 is set to zero and only the amount of steam g1 is increased (see Figure 3), the entire amount of gas will be used directly for steam electrolysis. If the hydrogen and oxygen generated by this are burned as is, there is a possibility that unnecessary heat will be generated as a heating furnace.

[0051] To repeat, if the total gas amount G1 is set to, for example, 1 / 3.5 of the total gas amount G1 in Fig. 1, and the heat amount Q2 for the object 3 to be heated is the same, ignoring the difference in the specific heat of the combustion gas, the temperature T1 may become as high as 4200°C. However, the practical heat resistance temperature of the radiant surface (furnace wall) 4 is generally limited to 1600°C, and a heating furnace with a temperature T1 of 4200°C is not desirable.

[0052] In contrast, it can be said that providing the circulating steam g2 makes it easier to realize a more preferable state.

[0053] That is, by adjusting the ratio of g1 and g2 by the control unit 13, for example, by adjusting only g2 without changing the amount of g1, the heating furnace can be set to a desired state while heating the object to a desired temperature. The amount of circulating gas g2 is controlled so that the exhaust gas temperature T2 of the combustion gas that contributed to heating in the furnace becomes 800°C.

[0054] The above can also be seen from the following: Compared to the oxidation reaction of normal fuel and air, this oxy-combustion produces about 1 / 3.5 the volume of combustion steam because there is no nitrogen. Combustion furnaces are filled with high-temperature gas and use the radiant heat to heat objects. When the amount of combustion exhaust gas becomes 1 / 3.5, the furnace is no longer filled with gas, causing local overheating.

[0055] In order to prevent this local overheating, the amount of circulating gas g2 is increased by the blower 5, so that the object to be heated can be heated uniformly.

[0056] Incidentally, by adjusting the amount of air sent by the air blowing device 5, the above-mentioned inconvenience can also be avoided.

[0057] Next, FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention.

[0058] That is, in FIG. 2, the remaining water vapor g2 from the blower 5 is not supplied to the burner 7 but is directly supplied to the heating chamber 2. In FIG.

[0059] This has the advantage of allowing you to select areas that are prone to overheating.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 1, when circulating steam is supplied to the combustion device 7 together with hydrogen and oxygen, there is an advantage in that the ultra-high temperature flame temperature is lowered.

[0061] The industrial furnace is any one of a heating furnace, a distillation furnace, a hardening furnace, and a melting furnace. At the time of start-up, the heating chamber is filled with water vapor at a predetermined temperature.

[0062] Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0063] Figure 4 shows an example of using water vapor pressure for driving rather than using it as heat.

[0064] That is, the engine 14 is of a hydrogen combustion type, and oxygen, not air, is used as the combustion supporting gas.

[0065] The hydrogen and oxygen generated in the steam electrolysis device 6 are supplied to a combustion device 7 integrated with an engine 14 and combusted, and the pressure of the generated water vapor is used to drive a piston to obtain torque.

[0066] The exhaust gas output from the engine 14 contains only water vapor, which is supplied to the steam electrolysis device 6 to generate new hydrogen and oxygen.

[0067] In this way, steam can be used to efficiently generate mechanical power.

[0068] FIG. 5 also shows another embodiment of the present invention, which is an example of a case where water vapor is not used as heat but its pressure is used for driving.

[0069] That is, driving force is obtained by feeding steam to the gas turbine blades 15. In this example, the driving part of the present invention is the gas turbine blades 15 and the like.

[0070] The water vapor is water vapor generated by the combustion device 7. The water vapor that has passed through the gas turbine blades 15 is then supplied to the steam electrolysis device 6, where it is electrolyzed into hydrogen and oxygen, and the hydrogen and oxygen are supplied to the combustion device 7 and combusted, and the pressure of the water vapor generated there is used to drive the steam gas turbine blades 16 to obtain rotational force.

[0071] In this way, steam can be used to efficiently generate mechanical power.

[0072] In all the above embodiments, it is preferable to use the circulation steam g2, but the embodiment can be carried out without using the circulation steam g2 depending on the structure, type and control of the device.

[0073] In the present invention, other components may be mixed into the hydrogen used as fuel, other components, such as nitrogen, may be mixed into the oxygen used as the combustion supporting gas, and other components may be mixed into the water vapor supplied from the combustion appliance. [Industrial Applicability]

[0074] The present invention is a system that can efficiently utilize steam and is ideal for heating furnaces and the like. [Explanation of symbols]

[0075] 1. Industrial furnace 2 Heating chamber (steam action area) 3 Object to be heated 4 Furnace wall 5. Blower 6. Steam electrolysis device 7 Combustion appliances 11 Steam Pipe 12 Electrolytic current device 13 Control section 14 Engine (steam working part) 15 Gas turbine blade (steam action area)

Claims

1. A combustion device that uses hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as a combustion supporting gas; A steam action unit that uses the heat or pressure of the steam supplied from the combustion appliance to heat or drive an object; a steam electrolysis device that performs steam electrolysis by utilizing all or a part of the water vapor output from the water vapor action unit, A water vapor utilization system, characterized in that the hydrogen and oxygen output from the steam electrolysis device are supplied to the combustion appliance as hydrogen as a fuel and oxygen as a combustion supporting gas for the combustion appliance.

2. 2. The system for utilizing water vapor according to claim 1, wherein the water vapor action section is a heating chamber that utilizes heat of the water vapor supplied from the combustion appliance to heat an object to be heated.

3. 3. The system for utilizing water vapor according to claim 2, wherein the heating chamber is a heating chamber of an industrial furnace.

4. 4. The system for utilizing water vapor according to claim 3, further comprising a blower for circulating the water vapor, the blower being provided between the heating chamber and the steam electrolysis device.

5. 5. The water vapor utilization system according to claim 4, wherein a portion (g1) of the water vapor discharged from the blower is supplied to the steam electrolysis device, and the remaining portion (g2) of the water vapor is directly supplied as water vapor to the combustion appliance or the heating chamber.

6. 6. The water vapor utilization system according to claim 5, wherein the airflow rate of the blower is adjustable so that the temperature of the water vapor output from the heating chamber becomes a predetermined temperature, and / or the ratio of the water vapor (g1) supplied to the steam electrolysis device and the water vapor (g2) supplied to the combustion appliance or the heating chamber is adjustable.

7. 7. The system for utilizing water vapor according to claim 6, wherein the industrial furnace is any one of a heating furnace, a distillation furnace, a hardening furnace, and a melting furnace.

8. 8. The system for utilizing water vapor according to claim 7, wherein the heating chamber is filled with water vapor at a predetermined temperature at the time of start-up.

9. The water vapor utilization system according to claim 1 , wherein the water vapor action unit is a drive unit that drives an object by utilizing the pressure of the water vapor supplied from the combustion appliance.

10. The water vapor utilization system according to claim 9 , wherein the drive unit is an engine drive unit.

11. The system for utilizing water steam according to claim 9 , wherein the driving portion is a gas turbine blade portion.

12. 12. The system for utilizing water vapor according to claim 1, wherein the steam electrolysis device is an SOEC type electrolysis device.

13. a combustion step of burning hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as a combustion supporting gas; A steam action process for heating or driving an object by utilizing the heat or pressure of the steam supplied from the combustion process; a steam electrolysis step of performing steam electrolysis using all or a part of the steam output from the steam action step, 2. A method for utilizing water vapor, comprising the steps of: supplying hydrogen and oxygen output from the steam electrolysis step to the combustion step as hydrogen as a fuel and oxygen as a combustion supporting gas in the combustion step;

Images