Absorption process and machine
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing absorption processes for waste heat utilization in combined heat and power plants are inefficient due to wasted mechanical energy when pumping the enriched solution to a medium-pressure level and the need for additional heat to separate the donor working medium, which reduces energetic efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The depleted solution is separated into the donor and lean solutions at the medium-pressure level without a bypass, reducing the volume flow of the enriched solution by half and eliminating the need for additional heat, thereby reducing energy expenditure and enhancing energetic efficiency by transferring heat from the depleted solution to the rich solution at the high-pressure level.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a bypass flow is extracted from the enriched solution to separate donor working medium at medium-pressure level, then the donor working medium can be separated, but the volume flow of solution to be pumped increases and additional heat must be supplied, reducing energetic efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of extracting a bypass flow from the enriched solution to separate donor working medium, the invention inverts the approach by using the depleted solution from high-pressure level as the donor solution at medium-pressure level. This eliminates the need for additional pumping and heat input that would be required for bypass flow extraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention recovers the depleted solution from the high-pressure level and reuses it as the donor solution at the medium-pressure level. This discards the conventional approach of wasting the lean solution and instead transforms it into a useful resource that eliminates the need for additional energy input.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the enriched solution volume flow is reduced by half, then energy expenditure for pumping is reduced, but the separation performance must be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The depleted solution from high-pressure level is recovered and used as donor solution at medium-pressure level, effectively halving the volume flow that needs to be pumped while maintaining separation performance through the reusable donor solution.
3Use of energy by moving object
If heat is transferred from depleted solution to rich solution at high-pressure level, then heating energy in expeller is reduced, but heat transfer infrastructure is required
Solution Approach 1:
A heat transfer medium serves as an intermediary to transfer heat from the depleted solution at medium-pressure level to the rich solution at high-pressure level. This mediator enables efficient heat recovery and reduces the heating energy required in the expeller while managing the thermal energy transfer between different pressure levels.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces energy expenditure and increases energetic efficiency, allowing for useful temperature ranges down to -30 °C, with improved heat transfer and reduced heating energy in the expeller, while maintaining high temperature levels for effective absorption.
Implementation Method 1
heat is preferably transferred from the depleted solution at the medium-pressure level to the rich solution at the high-pressure level
Implementation Method 2
Heat is preferably supplied to the depleted solution as part of an absorption process according to the invention at the medium-pressure level
Implementation Method 3
an evaporator for heating and evaporating a liquid working medium
Implementation Method 4
a condenser for cooling and condensing the gaseous working medium
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Disclosed is an absorption process for using waste heat from a combined heat and power plant, with a low-pressure level (54) enriching a lean aqueous solution (57) with evaporated ammonia as a working medium (43) and the enriched solution (50) from the low-pressure level (54) to a medium-pressure level (56) is compressed, a first heat flow (37) from the waste heat is fed to an aqueous donor solution (28) at the medium-pressure level (56), gaseous ammonia is separated from the donor solution (28) as donor working medium (30), the enriched solution (50 ) is further enriched with the dispenser working medium (30) to form a rich solution (35), the rich solution (35) is compressed from the medium-pressure level (56) to a high-pressure level (41) and the poor solution (57) is expanded to the low-pressure level (54). is, and at the high pressure level (41) the rich solution (35) is heated by means of a second heat flow (34) from the waste heat and into the working medium (43) in gaseous aggregate state and a depleted solution (38) are separated, the gaseous working medium (43) is expanded to the low-pressure level (54) and the depleted solution (38) is expanded to the medium-pressure level (56). Furthermore, an absorption machine (32) for carrying out such an absorption process is disclosed. In order to increase the energy efficiency of the absorption process, it is proposed that the depleted solution (38) as donor solution (28) be separated into the donor working medium (30) and the lean solution (57) at the medium-pressure level (56).