Assignment - 2 (Waste Heat Recovery)

Waste Heat Recovery Equipment Design, Construction,
Advantages, And Disadvantages

Waste Heat Recovery:
“Waste heat recovery is a process of “heat integration”, which is reusing heat energy that
would otherwise be disposed or simply released into the atmosphere. By recovering
waste heat, plants can reduce energy costs and CO 2 emissions, while simultaneously
increasing energy efficiency.
Common waste heat recovery example from our daily life is a turbo charged cars. In
normal cars internal combustion gasoline engines expels hot gases through the exhaust
of the car. However, in turbocharged engines divert the hot gas to a turbine, which is used
to spin an air compressor. The compressed air is routed to the engine’s combustion
chamber with the vaporized gasoline. As resulting a more efficient ignition and greater
power made with lower fuel consumption.
The energy benefits of industrial waste heat recovery can be similar to the above referred
example, and some Waste Heat Recovery systems are explained below:”
Economizer:
“Stack economizers, commonly used to heat water, are among the simplest type of waste
heat recovery system. Plant workers may be familiar with these common devices that
recover waste heat. Boiler stack economizers use heat energy from the gas expelled in
the heating process into the stack to heat boiler feed water and reduce the amount of
energy required to make steam. According to the US Department of Energy, installation
of a boiler feed water economizer can raise the thermal efficiency of a boiler and reduce
fuel consumption by 5 - 10%.”
Waste Heat Boiler (WHB):
“Using a principle similar to economizers, waste heat boilers recover heat generated in
furnaces or exothermic chemical reactions at industrial plants. These locations may
contain significant energy that should not be wasted up a stack. Instead, this energy can
be captured to generate low-to-medium pressure steam in a waste heat boiler (WHB). A
WHB can also be used to remove the heat from a process fluid that needs to be cooled
for either transport or storage, and generate steam from that heat. The steam generated
in WHB may be used for heating applications, or to drive turbines that generate electricity,
compress vapors, or pump liquids. WHB steam may contain significant wetness, so it is
recommended that a high efficiency separator and steam trap combination is installed to
ensure that the WHB delivers optimal quality steam to the recipient process.”
Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG):

“Many highly efficient industrial plants with cogeneration or combined cycle systems use
a gas-turbine (essentially a jet engine) to generate electricity then create steam from the
waste heat using a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). This section will explain how
this process works and how an HRSG comes into action.”
“Consider the previous example of a turbocharged car engine, but instead change the
motor to a jet engine. The gas-turbine/jet engine is fired using natural gas and its exhaust
contains extremely hot vapor that would simply be expelled to atmosphere if some of the
heat and kinetic energy were not captured. So, how can that waste heat be used as was
done with the turbocharged auto? The expelled hot gas needs to drive another turbine,
so the exhaust is passed through a HRSG, which creates superheated steam that drives
a downstream steam-turbine. The turbine can either drive a generator (combined cycle
system) or just use the steam in process applications (cogeneration or combined heat
and power (CHP)). HRSGs can have either a single steam drum (as shown in the
animation below) or multiple steam drums and pressures. There are also both unfired
varieties with natural circulation (shown below) and varieties with duct firing, which is
additional heating. Duct firing increases steam generation and quality, and has the ability
to create superheated steam and even greater power at a turbine.”
Absorption Chiller:
“Some energy efficient CHP systems may add refrigeration by incorporating absorption
chillers that use steam created from waste heat.
The mechanism of absorption chillers can be broken down into the following stages:
1. Diluted absorbent liquid (60% lithium bromide salt, 40% water) is preheated with
condensate as it moves from the absorber to the generator.
2. In the generator, the absorbent liquid is heated by steam, which causes some of the water
contained within it to vaporize, making the liquid more concentrated.
3. The concentrated absorbent liquid flows downward back to the absorber to capture more
water in its continuous loop. At the same time, the water vapor moves to the condenser.
4. In the condenser, cooling water causes the vapor to liquefy and flow downward toward
the evaporator, which has near vacuum pressure.
5. Just prior to entering the evaporator, the condensed water flows through an orifice or
expansion valve. This restriction limits flow, and the water again vaporizes to a cold mist
at 4.5°C. This is where refrigeration occurs. The low temperature vapor pulls heat out of
the chilled water loop, lowering its temperature by about 5°C.
6. The mist is heated when it absorbs heat from the chilled water loop, but the strong
attraction of the concentrated salt solution pulls the water into the concentrated absorbent
into the absorber, creating near vacuum pressure in the evaporator in the process.”

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Waste Heat Recovery Equipment Design, Construction,

Advantages, And Disadvantages

Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG):

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