Mixed component internally cascaded heat pump for industrial manufacturing applications
OwnerRakesh Agrawal, Akash Sanjay Nogaja +1inventors
InventorsRakesh Agrawal, Akash Sanjay Nogaja, Priyanshu Singh
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Abstract
This disclosure relates to a heat pump configuration and associated method for pumping heat from multiple distinct heat sources to multiple distinct heat sinks with internal cascading. The heat pump may be used in different industrial applications, particularly in distillation systems where there are multiple low-temperature heat sources and high-temperature heat sinks.
Claims20
A method of pumping heat from either at least one heat source to multiple heat sinks, multiple heat sources to at least one heat sink, or multiple heat sources to multiple heat sinks, the method comprising
- (i) providing a low-pressure gaseous stream of a mixed component containing two or more components with different boiling points;
- (ii) compressing the low-pressure gaseous stream to increase the pressure of the low-pressure gaseous stream to provide a high-pressure stream, which is predominantly a vapor or a gaseous stream;
- (iii) partially condensing the high-pressure stream by transferring heat to a heat sink from the high-pressure stream to provide a partially condensed two-phase stream;
- (iv) separating the partially condensed two-phase stream into two streams including a separated liquid stream and a separated vapor stream, wherein the separated liquid stream is eventually reduced in pressure and vaporized by heat exchange either against a heat source or a process stream;
- (v) condensing a stream derived from the separated vapor stream in step (iv) either by heat exchange with the process stream or by providing heat to another heat sink;
- (vi) reducing the pressure of the condensed stream from step (v);
- (vii) at least partially vaporizing the condensed stream from step (vi) by heat exchange with another heat source;
- (viii) mixing the vaporized stream from step (vii) with the separated liquid stream from step (iv) or with the vaporized stream from step (iv);
- and
- (ix) heating the mixed stream from step (viii) to provide the low-pressure gaseous stream of step (i).
A method of pumping heat from either a single heat source to multiple heat sinks, multiple heat sources to a single heat sink, or multiple heat sources to multiple heat sinks, the method comprising:
- (i) providing a low-pressure gaseous stream of a mixed component containing two or more components with different boiling points;
- (ii) compressing the low-pressure gaseous stream to increase the pressure of the low-pressure gaseous stream to provide a high-pressure stream, which is predominantly a vapor or a gaseous stream;
- (iii) completely condensing the high-pressure stream by transferring heat to a heat sink from the high-pressure stream to provide a liquid stream;
- (iv) reducing the liquid stream to an intermediate pressure;
- (v) partially vaporizing the liquid stream from step (iv) against a heat source to provide a partially vaporized two-phase stream;
- (vii) separating the partially vaporized two-phase stream into two streams including a separated vapor stream and a separated liquid stream;
- (viii) condensing a stream derived from the separated vapor stream of step (vii) against a process stream;
- (ix) reducing the pressure of the condensed stream from step (viii);
- (x) vaporizing the condensed stream from step (ix) by heat exchange with a heat source;
- and
- (xi) reducing the pressure of the separated liquid stream from step (vii) and either vaporizing the separated liquid stream by heat exchange against a heat source or a process stream, or mixing the separated liquid stream with the vaporized stream from step (x) to provide the low-pressure gaseous stream of step (i).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.