Steam Generator With Liquid Salt Electrode Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current steam generation methods are inefficient and costly, particularly in generating high-energy steam, due to unnecessary power losses and time delays from indirect heating and continuous operation of heating devices.
Innovation Solution
A steam generator system utilizing electrically conductive liquid salt heated by electrodes operated with alternating voltage or three-phase current, allowing direct heating and temporal decoupling of heating and steam generation, enabling cost-effective production of high-energy steam by storing heated salt for later use in a heat exchanger.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If indirect heating methods (heating strips or wire-bound heating resistors) are used to heat liquid salt, then steam can be generated, but unnecessary power losses and time delays occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the heating function from indirect heating elements (strips or resistors) and transfers it directly to electrodes that pass current through the liquid salt itself. The liquid salt serves dual purposes as both the heat transfer medium and the resistive heating element, eliminating the need for separate indirect heating devices and reducing energy losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The liquid salt acts as an intermediary that directly conducts both heat and electrical current. By using the liquid salt itself as the heating medium through direct electrical resistance heating, the system eliminates the intermediate heating elements that cause energy losses, while the salt's electrical conductivity enables direct heating without requiring it to be an insulator.
2Reliability
If continuous operation of heating devices is maintained to ensure steam supply, then steam generation is reliable, but operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary heating of liquid salt in advance and stores the heated salt in a storage tank. This allows the heating device to operate intermittently rather than continuously, as the stored hot salt can be used later for steam generation when heating is not occurring, thereby reducing operational costs while maintaining reliable steam supply.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating device operates periodically rather than continuously, heating liquid salt in cycles and storing the hot salt for later use. This periodic operation reduces energy consumption and operational costs while the storage tank ensures that steam generation can continue during the non-heating phases, maintaining reliability.
3Loss of energy
If direct electrical heating of liquid salt is implemented, then power losses are minimized, but the liquid salt must be electrically conductive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the electrical conductivity parameter of the liquid salt by using molten salt instead of aqueous salt solutions. Molten salt exhibits high electrical conductivity due to the mobility of ions in the liquid state, enabling direct electrical heating. This parameter change allows the system to achieve efficient direct heating while maintaining the necessary thermal properties for steam generation.
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 reduces operational costs by minimizing power losses and optimizing energy use, allowing for efficient generation and storage of high-energy steam, which can stabilize the power grid by utilizing surplus electrical power and reducing energy expenses during undersupply.
Implementation Method 1
the heating device has electrodes that can be electrically connected via the liquid salt and operated by an alternating voltage source or three-phase current source
Implementation Method 2
a heat exchanger arranged in a flow path of the liquid salt from the storage tank to the storage tank for preheating, evaporating, and/or superheating a liquid, in particular water, within the heat exchanger to a high-temperature level above the boiling point of the liquid
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
A steam generator (10) for generating superheated high-pressure steam is provided with a storage tank (14) for storing an electrically conductive cold liquid salt, a heating device (18) for heating the cold liquid salt, wherein the heating device (18) has electrodes (20) that can be electrically connected to each other via the liquid salt and operated by an alternating voltage source, a storage tank (24) for storing the warm liquid salt heated by the heating device (18) and a heat exchanger (28) arranged in a flow path of the liquid salt from the storage tank (24) to the storage tank (14) for preheating, evaporating and/or superheating a liquid, in particular water, within the heat exchanger (28) to a high-temperature level above the boiling point of the liquid.By decoupling the heating of the liquid salt and the use of the liquid salt in the heat exchanger (28) to generate superheated steam, high-energy steam can be generated with cost-effective energy input, thus enabling cost-effective generation of high-energy steam.