Parallel Heat Exchanger Flow Regulation for Multi-Temperature Energy Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing energy recovery systems face inefficiencies when dealing with compressed gases of varying temperatures, leading to excessive sensible heat increase in some evaporators and insufficient evaporation in others, which can damage equipment and hinder effective heat recovery.
Innovation Solution
An energy recovery device utilizing a Rankine cycle with multiple heat exchangers connected in parallel, temperature and pressure sensors, and a flow rate regulating valve to control the inflow rates of the working medium, ensuring the temperature and superheat differences fall within a specific range, thereby optimizing heat recovery from multiple heat sources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the liquid phase working medium flows into evaporators with compressed gas of different temperatures, then heat energy can be recovered from multiple heat sources, but the temperature of the gas phase working medium excessively increases in one evaporator causing inefficient cooling and potential damage to downstream instruments
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the single working medium flow into separate branches, each serving a specific evaporator. The flow rate regulating valve segments the total flow to allocate appropriate amounts to each evaporator based on the compressed gas temperature, preventing excessive temperature increase in any single evaporator.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow rate regulating valve dynamically adjusts the distribution of working medium flow rates to the parallel evaporators based on real-time temperature conditions of the compressed gas from different compressors, enabling adaptive optimization of heat exchange efficiency.
2Ease of operation
If an excessively increased flow rate of the working medium flows into an evaporator with low temperature compressed gas, then the evaporator can handle the flow, but insufficient evaporation occurs preventing sufficient cooling of compressed gas and potentially damaging the turbine
Solution Approach 1:
The flow rate regulating valve dynamically adjusts the working medium flow distribution to match the specific heat exchange requirements of each evaporator based on the compressed gas temperature, ensuring optimal evaporation and cooling efficiency without causing turbine damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses temperature sensors to detect the temperature of compressed gas from each compressor and feeds this information back to control the flow rate regulating valve, which adjusts the working medium flow to each evaporator to maintain optimal cooling efficiency and prevent turbine damage.
3Adaptability or versatility
If compressed gas with varying temperatures is supplied to parallel evaporators, then heat energy can be recovered from multiple sources, but the temperatures of the gas phase working medium differ excessively causing inefficient heat exchange
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the working medium flow into separate controllable branches for each evaporator, allowing independent optimization of heat exchange conditions for each heat source, thereby maintaining high efficiency across varying temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The flow rate regulating valve dynamically balances the working medium distribution to account for temperature variations in compressed gas from different compressors, optimizing heat exchange efficiency across all parallel evaporators despite differing heat source temperatures.
Data Source
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AI summary
An energy recovery device includes a plurality of heat exchangers connected in parallel with each other into which a plurality of heat sources flow, an expander for expanding a working medium, a dynamic power recovery unit, a condenser, a pump for sending the working medium which has flown out from the condenser to the plurality of heat exchangers, and a regulator for regulating inflow rates of the working medium flowing into the plurality of heat exchangers. The regulator regulates the inflow rates of the liquid phase working medium flowing into the plurality of respective heat exchangers such that a difference of temperatures or a difference of degrees of superheat of the gas phase working medium which has flown out from the plurality of respective heat exchangers falls within a certain range. Thereby, heat energy can be efficiently recovered from the plurality of heat sources having temperatures different from each other.