Radial Counterflow Steam Stripper for Thermal Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thermal power plants face significant water and energy waste due to the inefficiency of conventional steam condensing methods, particularly in cooling towers, which also pose health and environmental risks.
Innovation Solution
A multiscale cascade of dynamic vortex tubes with counter-rotating radial flow disk turbines separates exhaust steam into low and high enthalpy streams, allowing for efficient condensation and recycling of water without cooling towers, using fractal turbulence to drive thermal separation and evaporative cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional cooling towers are used for steam condensing, then heat rejection is achieved, but water waste and energy loss occur
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and separates the vapor phase from the liquid cooling water in the cooling tower system. By using a steam ejector to remove vapor and a water separator to divide liquid into spray water and drain water, the system recycles valuable water resources while maintaining heat rejection efficiency, thereby reducing both energy waste and water loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention recovers water that would otherwise be wasted through evaporation in cooling towers. The vapor is condensed and the liquid is separated and reused as spray water or feed water, transforming what was previously discarded (evaporative loss) into a recoverable resource that reduces overall water consumption and energy waste.
2Use of energy by moving object
If cooling towers are used for heat rejection, then thermal efficiency is maintained, but water consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a portion of its own output (condensed vapor and separated liquid) to serve its own needs. The spray water is reused for cooling purposes and the drain water is returned to the boiler as feed water, creating a self-sustaining water circulation system that reduces external water consumption while maintaining thermal efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The separated water serves multiple functions: spray water is used for evaporative cooling, drain water is returned to the boiler as feed water, and the system maintains heat rejection capability. This multi-functional use of water resources maximizes the utility of each unit of water consumed, reducing overall water requirements while preserving thermal efficiency.
3Reliability
If conventional steam condensing is used, then exhaust steam is condensed, but water and energy are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by condensing exhaust steam, separating the condensate, and returning it to the boiler as feed water. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures that water and energy are conserved and reused, maintaining reliable steam condensing while reducing energy waste through the recovery and reuse of thermal energy in the condensate.
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 water waste, enhances energy efficiency, and eliminates health and environmental hazards associated with cooling towers by effectively recycling water and utilizing waste heat, thereby improving the overall efficiency of power generation.
Implementation Method 1
separates exhaust steam into low and high enthalpy streams, allowing for efficient condensation and recycling of water
Implementation Method 2
using fractal turbulence to drive thermal separation and evaporative cooling
Implementation Method 3
The steam condenser only has to extract the latent heat from a reduced mass flow of cool vapor
Implementation Method 4
The latent heat must be extracted so that the water can condense and be pumped back into the boiler
Implementation Method 5
The high enthalpy vapor loses enthalpy doing useful work and condenses apart from the steam condenser
Data Source
AI summary
Turbine exhaust steam, axially fed between counter-rotating radial flow disk turbines, separates into: (1) a radially inward flow of low enthalpy dry steam, and (2) a radially outward flow of high enthalpy steam, noncondensibles, and condensate. The radially inward flow goes to a conventional condenser. The radially outward flow loses enthalpy turning the disk turbines as it passes in the boundary layers against the disks, thus becoming low enthalpy dry steam, and the counter-rotation of the disks by impinging mass flow of condensate, high enthalpy steam, and noncondensibles sustains a cascade of dynamic vortex tubes in the shear layer between the boundary layers. The low enthalpy dry steam resulting from work being done flows into the condenser through the vortex cores of fractal turbulence. Condensate exits the periphery of the workspace, ready to be pumped back into the Rankine cycle.