High Temperature Gas-to-Gas Heat Exchanger Based on a Solid Intermediate Medium

This paper proposes the design of an innovative high temperature gas-to-gas heat exchanger based on solid particles as intermediate medium, with application in medium and large scale externally fired combined power plants fed by alternative and dirty fuels, such as biomass and coal. An optimization procedure, performed by means of a genetic algorithm combined with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, is employed for the design of the heat exchanger: the goal is the minimization of its size for an assigned heat exchanger efficiency. Two cases, corresponding to efficiencies equal to 80% and 90%, are considered. The scientific and technical difficulties for the realization of the heat exchanger are also faced up; in particular, this work focuses on the development both of a pressurization device, which is needed to move the solid particles within the heat exchanger, and of a pneumatic conveyor, which is required to deliver back the particles from the bottom to the top of the plant in order to realize a continuous operation mode. An analytical approach and a thorough experimental campaign are proposed to analyze the proposed systems and to evaluate the associated energy losses.

[1]  Coal-fired gas turbine and ash separation system , 1993 .

[2]  David Gordon Wilson,et al.  The utilization of recuperated and regenerated engine cycles for high-efficiency gas turbines in the 21st century , 1996 .

[3]  F. Frandsen,et al.  Ash Deposition Trials at Three Power Stations in Denmark , 1998 .

[4]  Colin F. McDonald,et al.  Recuperator considerations for future higher efficiency microturbines , 2003 .

[5]  David Gordon Wilson,et al.  Design and Performance of a High-Temperature Regenerator Having Very High Effectiveness, Low Leakage and Negligible Seal Wear , 2006 .

[6]  Lae Sung Kim,et al.  Review of Heat Exchanger Studies for High-Efficiency Gas Turbines , 2007 .

[7]  Rainer Tamme,et al.  An innovative ceramic high temperature plate-fin heat exchanger for EFCC processes , 2007 .

[8]  Riccardo Amirante,et al.  Design Optimization of the Intake of a Small-Scale Turbojet Engine , 2007 .

[9]  Ruixian Cai,et al.  A proposed scheme for coal fired combined cycle and its concise performance , 2007 .

[10]  Donato Aquaro,et al.  High temperature heat exchangers for power plants : Performance of advanced metallic recuperators , 2007 .

[11]  Peter Zimmermann,et al.  Simulation of a Micro Turbine’s Dynamic Behavior in a Biomass Incineration Power Plant Based on the Pebble Heater Technology , 2009 .

[12]  P. Cleary,et al.  THE EFFECT OF GAS DYNAMICS ON HOPPER DISCHARGE RATES , 2009 .

[13]  Bor-Jang Tsai,et al.  A novel Swiss-Roll recuperator for the microturbine engine , 2009 .

[14]  Riccardo Amirante,et al.  A High-Efficiency Heat Exchanger for Closed Cycle and Heat Recovery Gas Turbines , 2010 .

[15]  Paolo Tamburrano,et al.  An Adaptive Fuzzy Logic Algorithm for the Thrust Control of a Small Turbojet Engine , 2010 .

[16]  Giovanni Lozza,et al.  Thermodynamic analysis of air-blown gasification for IGCC applications , 2011 .

[17]  Luciano Andrea Catalano,et al.  CFD optimization of an immersed particle heat exchanger , 2012 .

[18]  R. Verzicco,et al.  Unsteady Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis of an Immersed Particle Innovative Heat Exchanger , 2012 .

[19]  Paolo Tamburrano,et al.  Thrust Control of Small Turbojet Engines Using Fuzzy Logic: Design and Experimental Validation , 2012 .

[20]  R. Amirante,et al.  Analysis Of The Complementary Energy Losses OfA High Temperature Gas To Gas Heat ExchangerBased On A Solid Intermediate Medium , 2012 .

[21]  Paolo Tamburrano,et al.  Thrust Control of Small Turbojet Engines Using Fuzzy Logic: Design and Experimental Validation , 2012 .

[22]  Riccardo Amirante,et al.  Fluid-dynamic design optimization of hydraulic proportional directional valves , 2014 .

[23]  Rosenberg J. Romero,et al.  Experimental thermodynamic evaluation for a single stage heat transformer prototype build with commercial PHEs , 2015 .