Cascading Effluent Energy Recovery in High-Pressure Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional high-pressure compression systems for industrial applications, such as supercritical water oxidation (SCWO), are inefficient in recapturing and reinserting waste energy, leading to high energy consumption and limited energy recovery.
Innovation Solution
A cascading effluent energy recovery system is integrated with multiple compression stages to recover and reuse energy from the effluent, powering each stage and reducing the need for external energy sources, with motor/generators providing supplemental power when necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If conventional positive displacement compressors are used to achieve high-pressure rise, then the required pressure can be obtained, but energy consumption is high and waste energy recapture is inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by capturing waste energy from the effluent stream and feeding it back to assist in driving the compression process. The effluent expands through a turbine that is mechanically coupled to the compressor, creating a closed-loop energy recovery system where waste energy continuously returns to support the compression work.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-service by using its own waste energy output to partially power its own compression input. The effluent from the reactor serves itself by expanding through the turbine to drive the compressor, reducing the need for external energy sources and making the system partially self-sufficient.
2Device complexity
If single-stage compression is used to achieve high pressure, then the system is simpler, but energy efficiency is lower
Solution Approach 1:
The compression process is segmented into multiple stages with an intercooler positioned between stages. This segmentation allows for intermediate cooling of the compressed gas, reducing its temperature and volume before the next compression stage, which improves overall energy efficiency while maintaining a manageable system structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The intercooler acts as an intermediary component between compression stages. It mediates the thermal energy from the compressed gas by removing heat and transferring it to the incoming feed stream, thereby improving energy efficiency without requiring complex high-speed compression mechanisms.
3Stress or pressure
If high-pressure compression is achieved with conventional compressors, then the required pressure is obtained, but the number of mechanical components increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the compressor and turbine into a single mechanically coupled unit where the turbine directly drives the compressor through a shared shaft. This combination reduces the number of independent mechanical components and simplifies the overall system architecture while achieving the required pressure ratios.
Solution Approach 2:
The effluent stream serves multiple functions: it provides the driving force for the turbine, which in turn powers the compressor, and also undergoes expansion work. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each function, simplifying the mechanical system.
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 enhances energy efficiency by recycling energy within the system, reducing energy consumption, and achieving higher pressure ratios with fewer mechanical components, thus optimizing the energy use in high-pressure processes.
Implementation Method 1
A first early stage expansion turbine and a latter stage expansion turbine may be present. The first expansion turbine is mechanically linked to the first early stage compressor for at least partially driving the first compressor. The latter stage expansion turbine is mechanically linked to the latter stage compressor for driving the latter stage compressor.
Implementation Method 2
A first motor/generator is mechanically linked to each of the first early stage compressor and the first early stage expansion turbine. The first motor/generator selectively powers the first early stage compressor during periods of insufficient power from the first early stage expansion turbine and converting an excess of the energy content into electricity during periods of excess power from the first early stage expansion turbine.
Data Source
AI summary
A high-pressure system and method utilizing an input fluid. The system includes a reactor treating a material to produce an effluent having an energy content, a plurality of stages compressing the input fluid in a stepwise manner providing a high-pressure reactor input stream to the reactor, and a cascading effluent energy recovery system mechanically communicating with the plurality of stages. The cascading effluent energy recovery system imparts a portion of the energy content of the effluent into each of the plurality of stages powering that stage. The method includes receiving an input fluid, compressing the input fluid over a plurality of stages producing the high-pressure stream, providing the high-pressure stream to the reactor, recovering a portion of the energy content of the effluent at each of the plurality of stages, and using each the portion of the energy in compressing the input fluid at a corresponding respective stage.