Energy reclaiming process
OwnerDonald Helleurinventor
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Abstract
The invention relates to gaseous sources from which to reclaim energy using a pressurized direct contact heat exchanger, and in particular, those sources containing a condensable vapor. While the main applications involve water as the condensable vapor, the process is applicable to other vapors, e.g. those in the chemical and petroleum industries where various organic solvents are used. The reclaimed energy can be in the form of a hot fluid, process steam and or electricity. It has particular application to: a pressure combustion furnace and the DOE's Clean Coal Technology; the combustion of wet fuels (biomass, peat); pulp & paper; electrolysis of alumina or water; detoxidation, thermal depolymerization, enhanced oil recovery (and sequestering of carbon dioxide), phytotechnology,
Claims54
A process for continuously reclaiming any additional energy residing in hot pressurized non-condensable gases containing a condensable vapor, produced when processing material, and converting said energy into a more useful form, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a source from which to reclaim said additional energy from said gases continuously being produced within and or emanating from the source, and if necessary, converting the source to a higher pressure, so that hot pressurized gases are produced;
- b) continuously bringing the pressurized gases into intimate contact with a cooler liquid, in a pressurized direct-contact heat exchanger, a vertical vessel consisting of various sections, including a hot well, where the gases will enter at the bottom, flow counter-current to a flow of the cooler liquid and where any condensable vapor will condense and the gases will become drier, and leave at the top where the cooler liquid enters, said exchanger being divided into several areas;
- a first area being where any evaporative and heating property of the gases could be used to dry materials, a second area where part of the condensing and heating property of any vapor in the gas will be utilized to heat the cooler liquid to the highest temperature it could have when in equilibrium with the gases at the given pressure and thereby cool the gases as well as allowing heated liquid and condensed vapor to collect in the hot well within the area while still maintaining the highest possible hot well temperature, and continuously removing liquid from the hot well as reclaimed energy for further use or alternatively, continuously removing the liquid in the hot well and sending it to a flash chamber to produce vapor with the cooler flashed liquor reintroduced into said second area to cool further gases;
- and a third area wherein the gas and liquid will continue to progressively exchange heat content and supply heated liquid to the hot well, until the gas approaches the temperature of the cool liquid entering at the top;
- c) continuously replenishing the cool liquid entering at the top of the exchanger
- d) continuously removing the cooled gases from the top of the exchanger as reclaimed energy for further use.
The process of claim I comprising the steps of continuously removing heated liquid from the hot well and flash evaporating it in a flash chamber at a pressure lower than the pressure corresponding to the equilibrium or hot well temperature to thereby (1) convert some of the water in the liquid into steam and (2) cool the liquid to a temperature corresponding to the pressure of the flashed steam and allow it to collect in a sump in the flash chamber, continuously removing cooled liquid from the flash chamber and re-introducing it to the direct contact heat exchange section;
- at a point in the second area where the gas in the area is at about the same temperature as that of the liquid in the sump, so as to cool further gases, and where the gas and cooled liquid will progressively exchange heat content, until the gas as it cools approaches the temperature of the liquid from the flash chamber;
- continuously removing the flashed steam from the flash chamber for further use;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.