Oxygen heat exchanger
AssigneesAgc Glass Europe, L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
InventorsOlivier Douxchamps, Eric Baudelet, Bertrand Leroux, Gabriel Constantin, Remi Tsiava, Bruno Symoens
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for the supply of oxygen or of a gas mixture containing at least 50% oxygen, the temperature at the outlet of the exchanger not being below 300° C., it preferably being above 400° C., the oxygen or the oxygen-rich gas feeding one or more burners of a glass melting furnace, the heat of the combustion gases being used directly or indirectly to heat the oxygen or the oxygen-rich gas in the exchanger, in which the exchange power is between 20 and 300 kW, preferably between 40 and 250 kW and particularly preferably between 80 and 170 kW.
Claims28
A process for supplying gas to one or more burners of a glass melting furnace, comprising:
- supplying combustion gases from the glass melting furnace to a first heat exchanger;
- effecting a first heat exchange using the combustion gases to heat an intermediate heat transfer gas that is inert with respect to oxygen to form a heated heat transfer gas in the first heat exchanger;
- supplying oxygen gas comprising oxygen or a gaseous mixture comprising at least 50% oxygen to a second heat exchanger having an outlet;
- effecting a second heat exchange by heating the oxygen gas in the second heat exchanger with the heated heat transfer gas to a temperature at the outlet of the exchanger of not less than 300° C. to form heated oxygen gas;
- supplying the heated oxygen gas from the outlet to one or more burners of the glass melting furnace;
- generating in each burner from 1 to 6 MW in the furnace;
- exchanging a power per unit area in contact with the oxygen or gas rich in oxygen in the second heat exchanger in the range of between 5 and 15 W/m2,
- circulating gas in the tubes carrying the oxygen gas at a rate that does not exceed 120 m/s at any point in the second heat exchanger;
- exchanging power in the second heat exchanger to heat the oxygen gas in a range of between 20 and 300 kW, and
- maintaining a pressure of the oxygen gas in the second heat exchanger below 3 bar,
- wherein both the first and second heat exchanges are indirect heat exchanges, and
- wherein surfaces of the second heat exchanger contacting the oxygen gas are polished to have a roughness that does not exceed 6 μm.
A process for supplying gas to one or more burners of a glass melting furnace, comprising:
- effecting a first heat exchange with combustion gas from the melting furnace with an intermediate heat transfer gas to form a heated heat transfer gas, wherein the heat transfer gas is formed by a gas that is inert with respect to oxygen;
- passing the heated heat transfer gas to a heat exchanger having an outlet,
- supplying oxygen gas comprising oxygen or a gaseous mixture comprising at least 50% oxygen to the heat exchanger;
- effecting a second heat exchange by heating the oxygen gas in the heat exchanger via the heat transfer gas to a temperature at the outlet of the heat exchanger of not less than 300° C. to form heated oxygen gas;
- supplying the heated oxygen gas from the outlet to one or more burners of the glass melting furnace;
- each burner generating from 1 to 6 MW in the furnace,
- exchanging a power per unit area in contact with the oxygen or gas rich in oxygen in the second heat exchanger in the range of between 5 and 15 W/m2,
- circulating gas in the tubes carrying the oxygen gas at a rate that does not exceed 120 m/s at any point in the second heat exchanger;
- exchanging power in the second heat exchanger to heat the oxygen gas in a range of between 20 and 300 kW, and
- maintaining a pressure of the oxygen gas in the second heat exchanger below 3 bar,
- wherein both the first and second heat exchanges are indirect heat exchanges, and
- wherein surfaces of the second heat exchanger contacting the oxygen gas are polished to have a roughness that does not exceed 6 μm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.