CA2662053A1 - Method for the transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cyclic process - Google Patents
Method for the transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cyclic process Download PDFInfo
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Abstract
The invention relates to power engineering, particularly to transformation of en-ergy, released in thermal processing of organic and inorganic carbon-containing raw materials, including gases, industrial and residential waste, in order to obtain saleable energy and/or saleable chemicals in production quantities, by gasification of solid or liquid raw materials, or conversion (reforming) of gaseous raw materials, with using the main gasification products as an energy carrier and a working fluid in a closed-loop contour of an engine, with energy carrier regeneration, usage of the regeneration prod-ucts as a working fluid in the second engine's contour or in the second engine, and con-version of the spent regeneration products and by-products, obtained in synthesis of predefined chemicals, in order to re-use them as an energy carrier.
Description
Method for the transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cyclic process FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention is related to power engineering, more specifically to transfonnation of energy in a cyclic process.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cyclic processes are common in nature and widely used in industry. There are, for example, hydrological water cycle, carbon circulation in nature, biomass amount re-plenishing ["Chemical Encyclopaedia". Moscow: Great Russian Encyclopaedia, 1998, vol. 3, pp. 280-281], industrial production of carbamide and sulfuric acid, ad-sorption and absorption processes, numerous cyclic processes in chemical technology, photochemical processes and many others ["Chemical Encyclopaedia"., vol. 1, pp. 11-14, p. 62, p. 785, vol. 4, p. 647, vol. 5, pp. 715-719]. The processes of regeneration of different substances and materials are also widely used in industry, for example, waste-paper, fabric, metal recycling etc. Regeneration of heat and working fluid of steam tur-bines is popular in energy production. The processes of regeneration of energy carriers (fuels) in production quantities is implemented only in nuclear power industry, how-ever, spent nuclear fuel is partly regenerated on specialized plants (there are two such plants in Russia), and then is transported to the place of their re-use by special vehicles.
At the same time, as we know from the prior art available, the energy obtained in cyclic processes has not been used for driving heat engines, despite the fact that utilizing it could significantly decrease a fuel consumption and improve total efficiency of the processes.
The most well-known and widely used method for production of mechanical en-ergy by processing carbon-containing raw materials is their combustion.
Burning is a non-cyclic chemical process, in which the substance transformation is accompanied by an intensive energy liberation and a heat-mass exchange with an environment.
In this method a transformation of chemical energy into mechanical one takes place in a heat engine. The energy carrier (fuel) regeneration in an engine is unpractical in the nearest future.
Also it is known a method of transformation of chemical energy, obtained in a cy-clic thermochemical process, into mechanical energy, with the engine's working fluid regeneration by utilizing a dissipated heat energy at industrial plants (hydrocarbon gas hydrates, hydrides of metals and alloys, hydrogen peroxide), or a source of an ionizing radiation (water), or a high-temperature heat source (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide), according to which a mixture of hydrogen and carbon oxide in a molar ratio 3 to 1 is fed from a reservoir into a methanation reaction chamber, where it undergoes a catalytic reaction, producing a methane and water steam mixture (working fluid), that is fed afterwards into an engine, that produces mechanical energy by the mixture expan-sion. The used mixture of methane and steam is then fed into a cooling system of a gas-cooled high-temperature nuclear reactor, where it is converted into initial hydrogen and carbon oxide, closing the cycle (International Application No.
PCT/N02003/000133).
This method allows to considerably decrease the fuel consumption and improve the energy transformation efficiency in case when the engine is a part of a nuclear power plant or a part of an industrial plant, comparing to known methods, but it has the fol-lowing drawbacks:
- a gas-cooled high-temperature nuclear reactor has not been created yet;
- to provide the process cyclicity an independent high-temperature source of heat en-ergy is needed, that will allow an endothermic process of steam conversion of methane to go;
- the method can be implemented in steady-state conditions only, and in immediate proximity to a high-temperature source of energy;
- the method does not allow to use other types of carbon-containing raw materials;
- the method does not allow to create autonomous and transportation engines.
A method that is the most close in its technical essence and achieved technical re-sults to the method of transformation of energy described in the present paper, is the method of transformation of chemical energy, that is released in an exothermal process, into mechanical work, comprising of feeding raw materials into the first reaction cham-ber, source components interaction in an exothermal process, producing a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, that is fed into a methanation reaction chamber, where it undergoes a catalytic reaction, forming a methane-steam mixture - the working fluid, which expanding drives an engine to produce mechanical work, with a regenera-tion of the spent working fluid and subsequent feeding of the regenerated substances into the first reaction chamber, and during the process the raw materials in the first re-action chamber undergo autothermal or thermal gasifying with separation of hydrogen and carbon monoxide from the by-products, the mixture of hydrogen and carbon mon-oxide is fed into the methanation reaction chamber, and the catalytic reaction between hydrogen and carbon monoxide goes at temperature in the range from 600 to 1400 K
and pressure from 0.6 to 20.0 MPa, and a rotor engine, a piston engine, a rotor-piston engine or a turbine is used as an engine, and the mentioned reaction chambers and en-gine operate without gaseous emissions, providing for any given engine power by ac-cumulating the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide at a low raw materials con-sumption, and the engine operation goes without combustion of the carbon-containing raw materials, and at certain temperature, that is defined by the catalysts properties, the thermal conversion of the spent methane goes without oxygen consumption, and a plasma torch plasmatron is used for the gasifying of water mixtures of carbon-containing raw materials, and predetermined chemicals are produced during raw mate-rials processing along with energy production (Russian Federation patent application No. 2005140383/06).
That method's technical decision allows to significantly improve a set of technical parameters, to eliminate characteristic disadvantages of the method that became appar-ent in the invention implementation. However, that process still has the following dis-advantages:
- the energy and gases, obtained in conversion or gasification of the raw materials, are not used in transformation of energy into a mechanical work;
- not more than 20% of the energy, released in the reaction chambers, is used for transformation into a mechanical work;
- the energy and gases, obtained in chemicals synthesis reaction chambers, are not used in transformation of energy into a mechanical work;
- plasma-chemical conversion or gasification of the raw materials is provided only for processing water mixtures ad not for other types of raw materials, although that could allow to eliminate consumption of oxygen and additional water, to reduce the assortment and amount of the catalysts used;
- the method's implementation does not provide the conversion of methane into hy-drogen and carbon monoxide in an engine, moreover, a constant connection be-tween the gasification reaction chamber and the engine requires greater productivity and size of the gas purification and separation chamber.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The task, on which the present invention is based, consists of creating a method for transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cyclic process of treat-ment of carbon-containing raw materials, including gases, industrial and residential waste, into mechanical work, which method would be free of the above-mentioned dis-advantages, characteristic of the mentioned technical decisions, that represent a known level of engineering.
The technical result achieved during implementing the offered method, consists in a significant improvement of efficiency of chemical process energy transformation into mechanical energy, and also in a decrease of consumption of water, oxygen and cata-lysts for gasifying and conversion of gases in the engine contours.
The method for the transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cyclic process involves feeding prepared raw materials into a gasification or conversion reaction chamber, where it undergoes a gasification or conversion in an autothermal or thermal mode, producing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and by-products, separating the by-products, feeding the hydrogen and carbon monoxide mixture into the methanation reaction chamber, where it forms a mixture of methane and water steam, the working fluid, feeding the mixture into the engine, where it expands producing mechanical en-ergy, where the unseparated gasification products, the first working fluid, are fed into the engine, and their expansion in the engine transforms heat and kinetic energy of the mixture into mechanical energy, and the spent first working fluid after being cooled in the engine is split to hydrogen, carbon monoxide and by-products, upon that the sepa-rated hydrogen and carbon monoxide go into the methanation reaction chamber, where in a catalytic process a methane-steam mixture, the second working fluid, is formed, which is fed into the second contour of the engine mentioned or into another engine, where it similarly transforms the mixture energy into mechanical energy by expanding, and the spent methane-steam mixture and the by-products are fed back into the gasify-ing or conversion reaction chamber, where they again form the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, closing the cycle.
The invention is related to power engineering, more specifically to transfonnation of energy in a cyclic process.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cyclic processes are common in nature and widely used in industry. There are, for example, hydrological water cycle, carbon circulation in nature, biomass amount re-plenishing ["Chemical Encyclopaedia". Moscow: Great Russian Encyclopaedia, 1998, vol. 3, pp. 280-281], industrial production of carbamide and sulfuric acid, ad-sorption and absorption processes, numerous cyclic processes in chemical technology, photochemical processes and many others ["Chemical Encyclopaedia"., vol. 1, pp. 11-14, p. 62, p. 785, vol. 4, p. 647, vol. 5, pp. 715-719]. The processes of regeneration of different substances and materials are also widely used in industry, for example, waste-paper, fabric, metal recycling etc. Regeneration of heat and working fluid of steam tur-bines is popular in energy production. The processes of regeneration of energy carriers (fuels) in production quantities is implemented only in nuclear power industry, how-ever, spent nuclear fuel is partly regenerated on specialized plants (there are two such plants in Russia), and then is transported to the place of their re-use by special vehicles.
At the same time, as we know from the prior art available, the energy obtained in cyclic processes has not been used for driving heat engines, despite the fact that utilizing it could significantly decrease a fuel consumption and improve total efficiency of the processes.
The most well-known and widely used method for production of mechanical en-ergy by processing carbon-containing raw materials is their combustion.
Burning is a non-cyclic chemical process, in which the substance transformation is accompanied by an intensive energy liberation and a heat-mass exchange with an environment.
In this method a transformation of chemical energy into mechanical one takes place in a heat engine. The energy carrier (fuel) regeneration in an engine is unpractical in the nearest future.
Also it is known a method of transformation of chemical energy, obtained in a cy-clic thermochemical process, into mechanical energy, with the engine's working fluid regeneration by utilizing a dissipated heat energy at industrial plants (hydrocarbon gas hydrates, hydrides of metals and alloys, hydrogen peroxide), or a source of an ionizing radiation (water), or a high-temperature heat source (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide), according to which a mixture of hydrogen and carbon oxide in a molar ratio 3 to 1 is fed from a reservoir into a methanation reaction chamber, where it undergoes a catalytic reaction, producing a methane and water steam mixture (working fluid), that is fed afterwards into an engine, that produces mechanical energy by the mixture expan-sion. The used mixture of methane and steam is then fed into a cooling system of a gas-cooled high-temperature nuclear reactor, where it is converted into initial hydrogen and carbon oxide, closing the cycle (International Application No.
PCT/N02003/000133).
This method allows to considerably decrease the fuel consumption and improve the energy transformation efficiency in case when the engine is a part of a nuclear power plant or a part of an industrial plant, comparing to known methods, but it has the fol-lowing drawbacks:
- a gas-cooled high-temperature nuclear reactor has not been created yet;
- to provide the process cyclicity an independent high-temperature source of heat en-ergy is needed, that will allow an endothermic process of steam conversion of methane to go;
- the method can be implemented in steady-state conditions only, and in immediate proximity to a high-temperature source of energy;
- the method does not allow to use other types of carbon-containing raw materials;
- the method does not allow to create autonomous and transportation engines.
A method that is the most close in its technical essence and achieved technical re-sults to the method of transformation of energy described in the present paper, is the method of transformation of chemical energy, that is released in an exothermal process, into mechanical work, comprising of feeding raw materials into the first reaction cham-ber, source components interaction in an exothermal process, producing a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, that is fed into a methanation reaction chamber, where it undergoes a catalytic reaction, forming a methane-steam mixture - the working fluid, which expanding drives an engine to produce mechanical work, with a regenera-tion of the spent working fluid and subsequent feeding of the regenerated substances into the first reaction chamber, and during the process the raw materials in the first re-action chamber undergo autothermal or thermal gasifying with separation of hydrogen and carbon monoxide from the by-products, the mixture of hydrogen and carbon mon-oxide is fed into the methanation reaction chamber, and the catalytic reaction between hydrogen and carbon monoxide goes at temperature in the range from 600 to 1400 K
and pressure from 0.6 to 20.0 MPa, and a rotor engine, a piston engine, a rotor-piston engine or a turbine is used as an engine, and the mentioned reaction chambers and en-gine operate without gaseous emissions, providing for any given engine power by ac-cumulating the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide at a low raw materials con-sumption, and the engine operation goes without combustion of the carbon-containing raw materials, and at certain temperature, that is defined by the catalysts properties, the thermal conversion of the spent methane goes without oxygen consumption, and a plasma torch plasmatron is used for the gasifying of water mixtures of carbon-containing raw materials, and predetermined chemicals are produced during raw mate-rials processing along with energy production (Russian Federation patent application No. 2005140383/06).
That method's technical decision allows to significantly improve a set of technical parameters, to eliminate characteristic disadvantages of the method that became appar-ent in the invention implementation. However, that process still has the following dis-advantages:
- the energy and gases, obtained in conversion or gasification of the raw materials, are not used in transformation of energy into a mechanical work;
- not more than 20% of the energy, released in the reaction chambers, is used for transformation into a mechanical work;
- the energy and gases, obtained in chemicals synthesis reaction chambers, are not used in transformation of energy into a mechanical work;
- plasma-chemical conversion or gasification of the raw materials is provided only for processing water mixtures ad not for other types of raw materials, although that could allow to eliminate consumption of oxygen and additional water, to reduce the assortment and amount of the catalysts used;
- the method's implementation does not provide the conversion of methane into hy-drogen and carbon monoxide in an engine, moreover, a constant connection be-tween the gasification reaction chamber and the engine requires greater productivity and size of the gas purification and separation chamber.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The task, on which the present invention is based, consists of creating a method for transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cyclic process of treat-ment of carbon-containing raw materials, including gases, industrial and residential waste, into mechanical work, which method would be free of the above-mentioned dis-advantages, characteristic of the mentioned technical decisions, that represent a known level of engineering.
The technical result achieved during implementing the offered method, consists in a significant improvement of efficiency of chemical process energy transformation into mechanical energy, and also in a decrease of consumption of water, oxygen and cata-lysts for gasifying and conversion of gases in the engine contours.
The method for the transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cyclic process involves feeding prepared raw materials into a gasification or conversion reaction chamber, where it undergoes a gasification or conversion in an autothermal or thermal mode, producing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and by-products, separating the by-products, feeding the hydrogen and carbon monoxide mixture into the methanation reaction chamber, where it forms a mixture of methane and water steam, the working fluid, feeding the mixture into the engine, where it expands producing mechanical en-ergy, where the unseparated gasification products, the first working fluid, are fed into the engine, and their expansion in the engine transforms heat and kinetic energy of the mixture into mechanical energy, and the spent first working fluid after being cooled in the engine is split to hydrogen, carbon monoxide and by-products, upon that the sepa-rated hydrogen and carbon monoxide go into the methanation reaction chamber, where in a catalytic process a methane-steam mixture, the second working fluid, is formed, which is fed into the second contour of the engine mentioned or into another engine, where it similarly transforms the mixture energy into mechanical energy by expanding, and the spent methane-steam mixture and the by-products are fed back into the gasify-ing or conversion reaction chamber, where they again form the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, closing the cycle.
BRIEF DESCIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a process scheme showing one embodiment the invention where a gas is used as raw material.
Figure 1a is a process scheme showing a second embodiment of the invention where a gas is used as raw material.
Figure lb is a process scheme showing a third embodiment of the invention where a gas is used as raw material.
Figure 1 c is a process scheme showing a fourth embodiment of the invention where a gas is used as raw material.
Figure 2 is a process scheme showing one embodiment of the invention using solid or liquid hydrocarbons or carbon-containing wastes as raw materials.
Figure 2a is a process scheme showing another embodiment of the invention using solid or liquid hydrocarbons or carbon-containing wastes as raw materials.
Figure 3 shows a process scheme showing an embodiment of the invention which uses water or a mixture of water with any kind of carbon containing substances as raw mate-rial.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention is related to power engineering, more specifically to transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cyclic process at processing carbon-containing raw materials, among which there are gases, industrial and residential waste, in order to obtain saleable energy and/or saleable chemicals in production quantities, by using exothermal cyclic processes, gasification of solid or liquid raw materials, or con-version (reforming) of gaseous hydrocarbon raw materials, with subsequent recurrent conversion or gasification of by-products and regeneration of the obtained substances for their repeated use in the cyclic processes.
Figure 1 is a process scheme showing one embodiment the invention where a gas is used as raw material.
Figure 1a is a process scheme showing a second embodiment of the invention where a gas is used as raw material.
Figure lb is a process scheme showing a third embodiment of the invention where a gas is used as raw material.
Figure 1 c is a process scheme showing a fourth embodiment of the invention where a gas is used as raw material.
Figure 2 is a process scheme showing one embodiment of the invention using solid or liquid hydrocarbons or carbon-containing wastes as raw materials.
Figure 2a is a process scheme showing another embodiment of the invention using solid or liquid hydrocarbons or carbon-containing wastes as raw materials.
Figure 3 shows a process scheme showing an embodiment of the invention which uses water or a mixture of water with any kind of carbon containing substances as raw mate-rial.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The invention is related to power engineering, more specifically to transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cyclic process at processing carbon-containing raw materials, among which there are gases, industrial and residential waste, in order to obtain saleable energy and/or saleable chemicals in production quantities, by using exothermal cyclic processes, gasification of solid or liquid raw materials, or con-version (reforming) of gaseous hydrocarbon raw materials, with subsequent recurrent conversion or gasification of by-products and regeneration of the obtained substances for their repeated use in the cyclic processes.
In a method of transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cy-clic process, comprising of feeding prepared raw materials into a gasification or con-version reaction chamber, where it undergoes a gasification or conversion in an auto-thermal or thermal mode, producing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and possibly by-products, separating the by-products, if any, feeding the hydrogen and carbon monox-ide mixture into the methanation reaction chamber, where it forms a mixture of meth-ane and water steam, the working fluid, feeding the mixture into the engine, where it expands producing mechanical energy, according to the present invention unseparated gasification products, the first working fluid, are fed into the engine and their expansion in the engine transforms heat and kinetic energy of the mixture into mechanical energy, and the spent first working fluid after being cooled in the engine, is split to hydrogen, carbon monoxide and by-products, if any, upon that the separated hydrogen and carbon monoxide go into the engine's methanation reaction chamber, where in a catalytic process a methane-steam mixture, the second working fluid, is formed, which is fed into the second contour of the engine mentioned or into another engine, where it simi-larly transforms the mixture energy into mechanical energy by expanding, and the spent methane-steam mixture and the by-products are fed back into the gasifying or conver-sion reaction chamber, where they again form the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, closing the cycle.
- And also by running the raw material gasification or conversion in a plasma-chemical or plasma-catalytic mode, with water, or carbon dioxide, or a mixture of water and carbon dioxide as a plasma-forming substance in a plasma-chemical or plasma-catalytic reaction chamber;
- And also by that a noble gas or a noble gases mixture is added to the mixture of hy-drogen and carbon monoxide, and to the mixture of methane and water steam, to utilize excess heat energy.
The offered method of energy transformation, including cyclic technology of hy-drocarbon raw materials processing, is intended for high-efficiency production of elec-trical and heat energy, and also for high-efficiency (up to 95%) production of chemicals and energy, in case of creating combined energy-chemical plants, without harmful gaseous emissions of combustion materials.
- And also by running the raw material gasification or conversion in a plasma-chemical or plasma-catalytic mode, with water, or carbon dioxide, or a mixture of water and carbon dioxide as a plasma-forming substance in a plasma-chemical or plasma-catalytic reaction chamber;
- And also by that a noble gas or a noble gases mixture is added to the mixture of hy-drogen and carbon monoxide, and to the mixture of methane and water steam, to utilize excess heat energy.
The offered method of energy transformation, including cyclic technology of hy-drocarbon raw materials processing, is intended for high-efficiency production of elec-trical and heat energy, and also for high-efficiency (up to 95%) production of chemicals and energy, in case of creating combined energy-chemical plants, without harmful gaseous emissions of combustion materials.
After a thermal or autothermal gasification or conversion of raw materials the ob-tained mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which constitutes the main reactant and energy carrier, is used without combustion for production of energy, or energy along with chemicals, and after that it is regenerated by forming methane or other sub-stances in a catalytic exothermal mode.
The formed methane-steam mixture, or a mixture of other organic substances, after being cooled in, for example, an expansion turbine, undergoes the conversion again, forming hydrogen and carbon monoxide, by that providing the energy carrier circula-tion in the system All products, obtained in side reactions, and products of incomplete gasification, and by-products obtained during the synthesis, undergo a recurrent conversion or gasi-fication.
The raw materials may be any kind of organic or inorganic materials, containing carbon, or materials with addition of carbon or hydrocarbon, which processing is eco-nomically rational, for example, salt sea water, or ecologically necessary (hospital wastes, ill animal corpses, soil impregnated by oil or toxic substances, coal-concentrating production dumps, mixture of water and oil products or other hydrocar-bons, oil-slime, gases and gas mixtures containing hydrocarbons and carbon oxide or dioxide, peat, slate, brown and black coal, asphalt, natural and industrial gases, carbon-ates, oil products and crude oil etc.).
The offered method in its most general form is realized as follows. Solid or liquid raw materials, containing carbon or hydrocarbons, undergo gasification in a thermal or autothermal mode by any known method, applicable for the concrete type of the raw materials, and gaseous raw materials undergo conversion (reforming) for obtaining maximal amount of hydrogen and carbon oxide;
- the formed unseparated gasification products constituting the first working fluid, are fed into the engine, where they expand, transforming heat and kinetic energy of the mixture into mechanical energy;
- the spent first working fluid after being cooled in the engine, is split to hydrogen, carbon monoxide and by-products, if they formed previously;
- hydrogen and carbon monoxide go into the engine's methanation reaction chamber, where they undergo (completely or partially) a catalytic conversion (reforming) in a temperature range from 600 K to 1400 K and pressure 0.6-20.0 MPa (depending on type of the engine used), forming a mixture of inethane and water steam;
- the formed methane-steam mixture constituting the second working fluid, is fed into the second contour of the engine mentioned or into another engine, where it ex-pands, transforming the mixture energy into mechanical energy;
- the spent methane-steam mixture and the by-products (gases except nitrogen, liq-uids, dust and, possibly, soot) are fed back into the gasification or conversion reac-tion chamber, where they again form the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monox-ide, closing the cycle;
- the excess heat energy, produced in the reaction chambers and released in the gas purification and separation unit, is utilized in boilers, the steam from which go into steam turbines, and the hot water goes into heating system pipelines (in some cases it is rational to dilute the working fluid by adding a noble gas or noble gas mixtures, heating which decreases the working fluid temperature at the engine's inlet);
- in a case of incomplete conversion of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, the uncon-verted part is fed into the synthesis unit for production of chemicals (methanol and ethanol, dimethyl ether, alkanes, paraffins, artificial fuel, oils, aldehydes, ethylene, propylene etc.);
- the part of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, that did not react during the synthesis, together with by-products is fed into the gasification or conversion reaction cham-ber, closing the cycle;
- the separated nitrogen is packaged or returned to the environment, if it is released in small quantities in the cycle;
- solid vitrified slags may be used in construction engineering or should be disposed in accordance with established procedure;
- in high power installations the amount of the energy released in the reaction cham-bers, converted into mechanical energy, may be increased by additionally using va-pors of low-boiling liquids, obtained in steam boilers and heat-exchangers, incorpo-rated in the reaction chambers and a gas separation unit, as working fluids in en-gines.
The offered method allows to process any amount of raw materials (from several grams up to several hundred thousand tons a day) and may be used with any heat en-gine of a known design (turbine, rotor, piston, rotor-piston engines etc.), and also al-lows to use almost any kind of fuel for engines (solid, liquid, gaseous) and/or simulta-neously produce chemicals, including pure water, supplying the industrial facilities and consumers with necessary amount of energy.
Below there are examples that do not limit the applications of the method, but only illustrate some optimal implementations of the method from the variety of possible practical implementations.
Example 1.
The raw material is a purified natural gas or a bottled gas (propane, or a mixture of propane with butane, or other gases mixture). It should be noted that this is one of the most easy and cheap variants of the offered method implementation. Such low-power plants may be used on vehicles. The process scheme is shown on the Fig. 1. The method is implemented as follows.
The gas from a reservoir or a container goes into the conversion reaction unit as-sembly 1, where it undergoes a catalytic exothermal conversion at temperature 2473 K, forming hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a trace amount of other gases.
The formed gases constitute the first working fluid, and they are fed into the first contour of the engine 2 (Fig. 1) or into a separate engine 2 (Fig. 1 a), where they expand and trans-form heat and kinetic energy of the gases into mechanical energy, after that from the engine 2 they go into the methanation reaction chamber 3, where a catalytic exothermal reaction between hydrogen and carbon monoxide takes place, forming a methane-steam mixture. The process goes on by any known method at a pressure from 0.5 to 20 MPa, reaching the temperature 1400 K. The methane-steam mixture, that is the second work-ing fluid, is fed into the second contour of the engine 2 (Fig. 1), or a separate engine 4 (Fig. I a), expands and transforms heat and kinetic energy of the mixture into mechani-cal energy. The spent mixture is returned into the conversion reaction unit assembly 1 for a repeated conversion, closing the cycle.
If the amount of processed raw materials is significant, for example, in processing unrefined oilwell gases, the technological scheme of the process (Fig. 1b) is comple-mented by a synthesis reaction chambers assembly 5, gas purification and separation unit 8, and it is reasonable to supply heat boilers 6 and additional steam turbines 7 (Fig. tb) to all the reaction chambers, or to add noble gas or noble gas mixtures to the conversion product mixtures.
Only oxygen and small amount of water for the process initiation are consumed theoretically in the process, along with catalysts, that are inactivated in the process 5 flow, and should be changed or regenerated periodically. The oxygen consumption of the process initiation is up to 0.5-0.6 m3 for 1 m3 of gas (depending on the gas compo-sition); the water steam consumption is up to 0.8 kg for 1 kg of gas.
Because the methane conversion process is reversible, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon oxide obtained in steady-state conditions (on metallurgical and chemical facto-10 ries and oil refineries) can be used as a raw material. The scheme of such process is shown on Fig. 1 c.
The mixture of the gases from a reservoir or a container goes into the methanation reaction chamber 3, where methane and water steam mixture formation takes place. The mixture from the reaction chamber goes into the engine 4, where it expands and trans-forms heat and kinetic energy of the mixture into mechanical energy, and after the en-gine 4 it goes into a conversion reaction chamber assembly 1, where the mixture of methane and water steam is converted back into a mixture of hydrogen and carbon ox-ide, that is fed into the engine 2, where it expands and transforms heat and kinetic en-ergy of the mixture into mechanical energy, and after the engine 2 the spent mixture returns into the methanation reaction chamber 3, closing the cycle.
Calculation of a power of the engine, working on the described method, shown on Fig. 1, 1 a, 1 b, 1 c can be made using the following equation:
k-1 k N= k 1RT 1 p u` n k- j t'in wherein N - power, W;
k adiabatic exponent;
R - specific gas constant, J/(kg=K);
T - temperature, K;
The formed methane-steam mixture, or a mixture of other organic substances, after being cooled in, for example, an expansion turbine, undergoes the conversion again, forming hydrogen and carbon monoxide, by that providing the energy carrier circula-tion in the system All products, obtained in side reactions, and products of incomplete gasification, and by-products obtained during the synthesis, undergo a recurrent conversion or gasi-fication.
The raw materials may be any kind of organic or inorganic materials, containing carbon, or materials with addition of carbon or hydrocarbon, which processing is eco-nomically rational, for example, salt sea water, or ecologically necessary (hospital wastes, ill animal corpses, soil impregnated by oil or toxic substances, coal-concentrating production dumps, mixture of water and oil products or other hydrocar-bons, oil-slime, gases and gas mixtures containing hydrocarbons and carbon oxide or dioxide, peat, slate, brown and black coal, asphalt, natural and industrial gases, carbon-ates, oil products and crude oil etc.).
The offered method in its most general form is realized as follows. Solid or liquid raw materials, containing carbon or hydrocarbons, undergo gasification in a thermal or autothermal mode by any known method, applicable for the concrete type of the raw materials, and gaseous raw materials undergo conversion (reforming) for obtaining maximal amount of hydrogen and carbon oxide;
- the formed unseparated gasification products constituting the first working fluid, are fed into the engine, where they expand, transforming heat and kinetic energy of the mixture into mechanical energy;
- the spent first working fluid after being cooled in the engine, is split to hydrogen, carbon monoxide and by-products, if they formed previously;
- hydrogen and carbon monoxide go into the engine's methanation reaction chamber, where they undergo (completely or partially) a catalytic conversion (reforming) in a temperature range from 600 K to 1400 K and pressure 0.6-20.0 MPa (depending on type of the engine used), forming a mixture of inethane and water steam;
- the formed methane-steam mixture constituting the second working fluid, is fed into the second contour of the engine mentioned or into another engine, where it ex-pands, transforming the mixture energy into mechanical energy;
- the spent methane-steam mixture and the by-products (gases except nitrogen, liq-uids, dust and, possibly, soot) are fed back into the gasification or conversion reac-tion chamber, where they again form the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monox-ide, closing the cycle;
- the excess heat energy, produced in the reaction chambers and released in the gas purification and separation unit, is utilized in boilers, the steam from which go into steam turbines, and the hot water goes into heating system pipelines (in some cases it is rational to dilute the working fluid by adding a noble gas or noble gas mixtures, heating which decreases the working fluid temperature at the engine's inlet);
- in a case of incomplete conversion of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, the uncon-verted part is fed into the synthesis unit for production of chemicals (methanol and ethanol, dimethyl ether, alkanes, paraffins, artificial fuel, oils, aldehydes, ethylene, propylene etc.);
- the part of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, that did not react during the synthesis, together with by-products is fed into the gasification or conversion reaction cham-ber, closing the cycle;
- the separated nitrogen is packaged or returned to the environment, if it is released in small quantities in the cycle;
- solid vitrified slags may be used in construction engineering or should be disposed in accordance with established procedure;
- in high power installations the amount of the energy released in the reaction cham-bers, converted into mechanical energy, may be increased by additionally using va-pors of low-boiling liquids, obtained in steam boilers and heat-exchangers, incorpo-rated in the reaction chambers and a gas separation unit, as working fluids in en-gines.
The offered method allows to process any amount of raw materials (from several grams up to several hundred thousand tons a day) and may be used with any heat en-gine of a known design (turbine, rotor, piston, rotor-piston engines etc.), and also al-lows to use almost any kind of fuel for engines (solid, liquid, gaseous) and/or simulta-neously produce chemicals, including pure water, supplying the industrial facilities and consumers with necessary amount of energy.
Below there are examples that do not limit the applications of the method, but only illustrate some optimal implementations of the method from the variety of possible practical implementations.
Example 1.
The raw material is a purified natural gas or a bottled gas (propane, or a mixture of propane with butane, or other gases mixture). It should be noted that this is one of the most easy and cheap variants of the offered method implementation. Such low-power plants may be used on vehicles. The process scheme is shown on the Fig. 1. The method is implemented as follows.
The gas from a reservoir or a container goes into the conversion reaction unit as-sembly 1, where it undergoes a catalytic exothermal conversion at temperature 2473 K, forming hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a trace amount of other gases.
The formed gases constitute the first working fluid, and they are fed into the first contour of the engine 2 (Fig. 1) or into a separate engine 2 (Fig. 1 a), where they expand and trans-form heat and kinetic energy of the gases into mechanical energy, after that from the engine 2 they go into the methanation reaction chamber 3, where a catalytic exothermal reaction between hydrogen and carbon monoxide takes place, forming a methane-steam mixture. The process goes on by any known method at a pressure from 0.5 to 20 MPa, reaching the temperature 1400 K. The methane-steam mixture, that is the second work-ing fluid, is fed into the second contour of the engine 2 (Fig. 1), or a separate engine 4 (Fig. I a), expands and transforms heat and kinetic energy of the mixture into mechani-cal energy. The spent mixture is returned into the conversion reaction unit assembly 1 for a repeated conversion, closing the cycle.
If the amount of processed raw materials is significant, for example, in processing unrefined oilwell gases, the technological scheme of the process (Fig. 1b) is comple-mented by a synthesis reaction chambers assembly 5, gas purification and separation unit 8, and it is reasonable to supply heat boilers 6 and additional steam turbines 7 (Fig. tb) to all the reaction chambers, or to add noble gas or noble gas mixtures to the conversion product mixtures.
Only oxygen and small amount of water for the process initiation are consumed theoretically in the process, along with catalysts, that are inactivated in the process 5 flow, and should be changed or regenerated periodically. The oxygen consumption of the process initiation is up to 0.5-0.6 m3 for 1 m3 of gas (depending on the gas compo-sition); the water steam consumption is up to 0.8 kg for 1 kg of gas.
Because the methane conversion process is reversible, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon oxide obtained in steady-state conditions (on metallurgical and chemical facto-10 ries and oil refineries) can be used as a raw material. The scheme of such process is shown on Fig. 1 c.
The mixture of the gases from a reservoir or a container goes into the methanation reaction chamber 3, where methane and water steam mixture formation takes place. The mixture from the reaction chamber goes into the engine 4, where it expands and trans-forms heat and kinetic energy of the mixture into mechanical energy, and after the en-gine 4 it goes into a conversion reaction chamber assembly 1, where the mixture of methane and water steam is converted back into a mixture of hydrogen and carbon ox-ide, that is fed into the engine 2, where it expands and transforms heat and kinetic en-ergy of the mixture into mechanical energy, and after the engine 2 the spent mixture returns into the methanation reaction chamber 3, closing the cycle.
Calculation of a power of the engine, working on the described method, shown on Fig. 1, 1 a, 1 b, 1 c can be made using the following equation:
k-1 k N= k 1RT 1 p u` n k- j t'in wherein N - power, W;
k adiabatic exponent;
R - specific gas constant, J/(kg=K);
T - temperature, K;
p - pressure of the gas mixture at the turbine inlet, Pa;
po, pressure of the gas mixture at the turbine outlet, Pa;
n - working fluid consumption, kg/s.
Initial data, used for the calculation:
- engine type: a turbine;
- p,.,, = 10 MPa, pressure of the gas mixture at the turbine inlet;
- po,õ = 0.11 MPa, pressure of the gas mixture at the turbine outlet;
- T = 1400 K, temperature of the gas mixture at the turbine inlet;
- ,uA, = 16.04, methane molecular weight;
-ps = 18.016, water steam molecular weight at T = 1400 K and p=10 MPa;
,un,, = 17.028, molecular weight of the mixture of methane and water steam;
CP S= 2.620 kJ/(kg=K), specific heat at constant pressure for water steam at T=1400Kand p=10MPa;
- CP M= 5.251 kJ/(kg=K), specific heat at constant pressure for methane at T=1400Kand p=10MPa;
- Rti,, = 488.3 J/(kg=K), specific gas constant for the mixture of methane and water steam;
- CP,V1,. = 3.857 kJ/(kg=K), specific heat at constant pressure for the mixture of meth-ane and water steam;
- C1, MV = Cp,MS - RM.V = 3.369 kJ/(kg=K), specific heat at constant volume for the mixture of methane and water steam;
k,~,s =~ = 1.145, adiabatic exponent for the mixture of methane and water steam;
v k,{c = 1.340, adiabatic exponent for the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide;
RõC = 976.5 J/(kg=K), specific gas constant for the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
Taking the consumption n = 1 kg/s, we get the power N = 6.10 MW, comparing to the 2.35 MW power of the prototype.
The temperature of output fluid can be calculated by the equation a-i Toeii t" onr ~ ~n P;
For the hydrogen and carbon monoxide mixture it is 445 K, for the methane-steam mixture it is 780 K.
If the methane catalytic conversion process is conducted at a temperature higher than 783 K, the spent gas mixture will have the indicated temperature at a pressure higher than 0.12 MPa. In this case there will be no need in oxygen consumption, and it will be possible to restrict to water-steam catalytic conversion, because the necessary temperature may be obtained from the spent gases.
After initiating the process the only consumed substance will be the catalyst, that is inactivated in the process. The water steam and natural gas will be consumed only for compensating for possible leaks.
The process parameters, shown above, and pressure value of 0.12 MPa the engine power will be 5.74 MW, comparing to that of prototype 1.46 MW.
Amount of energy released in the reaction chambers during the process is defined from the following chemical reactions:
CO + 3H, -+ CH4 + H2 0 + 206.2 kJ/mole CH4 + 0.50, --> CO + 2H2 + 34 kJ/mole CH4 + 202 --). CO2 + 2H20+ 882 kJ/mole.
Taking into account that no more than 4% of the reactants are consumed in the lat-ter reaction, the total supplied thermal power released in the reaction chambers is 12.12 + 2.512 + 2.2 = 16.832 MW. Internal thennal efficiency of the cyclic process in the first case is 0.790, comparing to 0.165 in the prototype.
In case of using a water steam boiler, the power will increase by 1.055 MW, mak-ing the efficiency 0.853 for the case of 6.1 MW of the power.
When the amount of the gas being processed is great, the method is realized ac-cording to the scheme, shown on Fig. lb, that is based on the scheme shown on the Fig. I a, that is complemented by a predetermined chemicals synthesis unit 5, and water steam boilers 6 with superheaters, and a turbogenerator 7. The unreacted gases and by-products are returned for reforming from the synthesis unit 5 into the reaction chamber assembly 1, possibly through an expansion turbine (not shown on the figure), that gives additional energy. Such scheme of the method implementation allows to produce not only electrical energy, but also predetermined chemicals, for example, methanol in amount 1.015 kg for 1 normal m3 of gas or ethanol, or diesel fuel etc. The total effi-ciency of the process in case of methanol production, defined by the amount of energy contained in the final products, taking into account the energy consumption for the syn-thesis unit 5, is 0.960. The processed raw materials are not used for the energy produc-tion.
Example 2.
The processed raw materials are solid or liquid hydrocarbons or carbon-containing wastes. The process scheme is shown on Fig. 2a, 2b. The method is implemented as follows.
The raw material after appropriate preparation by a known technology is fed into the gasification reaction chamber assembly 1(Fig. 2), designed for processing solid or liquid raw materials, where gasification takes place under the action of oxygen, or wa-ter steam and oxygen, or plasma. The gas obtained as a result of the gasification proc-ess, consisting mainly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is fed into the engine 2, where it expands and transforms the mixture heat and kinetic energy into mechanical energy. The spent gas mixture is separated in the separation unit 8, the hydrogen and carbon monoxide are fed into the methanation reaction chamber 3, where a catalytic exothermal reaction takes place between hydrogen and carbon monoxide with forma-tion of a mixture of methane and water steam. The separated products are returned into the gasification reaction chamber assembly 1, and the methane-steam mixture is fed into the second engine 4, where it expands and transforms the mixture heat and kinetic energy into mechanical energy. After leaving the engine 4 the spent mixture goes into the gasification reaction chamber assembly 1, where it is converted back into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, closing the cycle.
In case of a constant raw materials supply and limited energy consumption, the hy-drogen and carbon monoxide may be fed into the synthesis reaction chambers 5 (Fig. 2a), skipping the methanation reaction chamber 3 and the engine 4. In the reaction chambers 5 the synthesis of the predetermined chenlicals takes place, after which they are stored, and by-products and purge gases return into the gasification reaction cham-ber assembly I through the engine 9.
For a complete utilization of the energy released in this cycle, all the reaction chambers and gas purification and separation unit 8 may be equipped with boilers 6 with superheaters (Fig. 2a). The water steam, obtained in these boiler, is fed into the steam turbine 7, providing additional energy production.
In a vehicle variant of the power unit (for example, for a locomotive or a ship) the following units are excluded from the scheme shown on the Fig. 2a: the synthesis reac-tion chambers 5, the boilers 6 and the engine 7, and the spent methane-steam mixture after the engine 4 is fed directly into the gasification reaction chambers assembly 1. For a complete transfonnation of the heat energy, that is released in the reaction chambers, into mechanical energy, and for lowering the working fluid temperature at the engines' inlet, noble gases or their mixtures (an argon and helium mixture, other mixtures) may be added to the gasification products, instead of installing boilers.
The variant shown in this example is one of a wide range of possible variants of re-alization of the method. This variant allows to process from several kilograms to sev-eral hundred thousand tons of raw materials daily. Amount of gases (hydrogen and car-bon monoxide) obtained in the process depends on the type of raw materials and varies from 1-1.5 m3/kg for low-grade brown coal and residential waste, to 3-3.5 m3/kg for black oil, oil residue and crude oil.
If the variant described in this example is used for processing a constant supply of waste or other raw materials, it is necessary to produce chemicals in order to prevent gaseous emissions.
The power value calculation can be done by the equation given in the Example 1.
Let us assume that the raw material for the processing is pressed sawdust.
Consumption of water steam for gasification is 0.4 kg for 1 kg of the sawdust, consumption of oxy-gen is 0.3 kg for 1 kg of the sawdust.
Initial data, used for the calculation:
methanol output - 0.492 kg for 1 kg of sawdust;
enthalpy of methanol combustion - 22.3 MJ/kg;
enthalpy of pressed sawdust combustion - 19.4 MJ/kg;
gasification process temperature -- 2073-2173 K;
pressure at the gasification reaction chambers assembly outlet - 8 MPa;
methane formation temperature - 1400 K;
5 pressure at the methanation reaction chamber outlet - 10 MPa;
methanol synthesis process pressure - 8 MPa;
temperature at the methanation reaction chamber outlet - 543 K;
live steam pressure - 3 MPa;
live steam enthalpy - 3390 kJ/kg;
10 - reheat steam pressure - 2.1 MPa;
- reheat steam enthalpy - 3450 kJ/kg;
- low-pressure steam pressure - 1.2 MPa;
- amount of gas, forming in gasification process - 1.95 kg for 1 kg of sawdust;
- amount of unreacted purge gases in methanol synthesis reaction chamber -0.54 kg 15 for 1 kg of sawdust;
- amount of live steam for the steam turbine during sawdust gasification -0.94 kg for I kg of sawdust;
- amount of reheat steam for the steam turbine during sawdust gasification -0.84 kg for 1 kg of sawdust;
- amount of low-pressure steam for the steam turbine during sawdust gasification -1.28 kg for 1 kg of sawdust.
Calculation results:
- amount of electrical energy produced by the steam turbine during gasification of 1 kg of sawdust - 0.70 kWh;
- amount of electrical energy produced by the main engines during gasification of 1 kg of sawdust - 1.23 kWh;
- total amount of energy produced by all turbines during gasification of 1 kg of saw-dust -- 1.93 kWh;
- amount of energy contained in the produced methanol - 3.07 kWh;
- thermal efficiency of the process - 0.928.
Example 3.
po, pressure of the gas mixture at the turbine outlet, Pa;
n - working fluid consumption, kg/s.
Initial data, used for the calculation:
- engine type: a turbine;
- p,.,, = 10 MPa, pressure of the gas mixture at the turbine inlet;
- po,õ = 0.11 MPa, pressure of the gas mixture at the turbine outlet;
- T = 1400 K, temperature of the gas mixture at the turbine inlet;
- ,uA, = 16.04, methane molecular weight;
-ps = 18.016, water steam molecular weight at T = 1400 K and p=10 MPa;
,un,, = 17.028, molecular weight of the mixture of methane and water steam;
CP S= 2.620 kJ/(kg=K), specific heat at constant pressure for water steam at T=1400Kand p=10MPa;
- CP M= 5.251 kJ/(kg=K), specific heat at constant pressure for methane at T=1400Kand p=10MPa;
- Rti,, = 488.3 J/(kg=K), specific gas constant for the mixture of methane and water steam;
- CP,V1,. = 3.857 kJ/(kg=K), specific heat at constant pressure for the mixture of meth-ane and water steam;
- C1, MV = Cp,MS - RM.V = 3.369 kJ/(kg=K), specific heat at constant volume for the mixture of methane and water steam;
k,~,s =~ = 1.145, adiabatic exponent for the mixture of methane and water steam;
v k,{c = 1.340, adiabatic exponent for the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide;
RõC = 976.5 J/(kg=K), specific gas constant for the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
Taking the consumption n = 1 kg/s, we get the power N = 6.10 MW, comparing to the 2.35 MW power of the prototype.
The temperature of output fluid can be calculated by the equation a-i Toeii t" onr ~ ~n P;
For the hydrogen and carbon monoxide mixture it is 445 K, for the methane-steam mixture it is 780 K.
If the methane catalytic conversion process is conducted at a temperature higher than 783 K, the spent gas mixture will have the indicated temperature at a pressure higher than 0.12 MPa. In this case there will be no need in oxygen consumption, and it will be possible to restrict to water-steam catalytic conversion, because the necessary temperature may be obtained from the spent gases.
After initiating the process the only consumed substance will be the catalyst, that is inactivated in the process. The water steam and natural gas will be consumed only for compensating for possible leaks.
The process parameters, shown above, and pressure value of 0.12 MPa the engine power will be 5.74 MW, comparing to that of prototype 1.46 MW.
Amount of energy released in the reaction chambers during the process is defined from the following chemical reactions:
CO + 3H, -+ CH4 + H2 0 + 206.2 kJ/mole CH4 + 0.50, --> CO + 2H2 + 34 kJ/mole CH4 + 202 --). CO2 + 2H20+ 882 kJ/mole.
Taking into account that no more than 4% of the reactants are consumed in the lat-ter reaction, the total supplied thermal power released in the reaction chambers is 12.12 + 2.512 + 2.2 = 16.832 MW. Internal thennal efficiency of the cyclic process in the first case is 0.790, comparing to 0.165 in the prototype.
In case of using a water steam boiler, the power will increase by 1.055 MW, mak-ing the efficiency 0.853 for the case of 6.1 MW of the power.
When the amount of the gas being processed is great, the method is realized ac-cording to the scheme, shown on Fig. lb, that is based on the scheme shown on the Fig. I a, that is complemented by a predetermined chemicals synthesis unit 5, and water steam boilers 6 with superheaters, and a turbogenerator 7. The unreacted gases and by-products are returned for reforming from the synthesis unit 5 into the reaction chamber assembly 1, possibly through an expansion turbine (not shown on the figure), that gives additional energy. Such scheme of the method implementation allows to produce not only electrical energy, but also predetermined chemicals, for example, methanol in amount 1.015 kg for 1 normal m3 of gas or ethanol, or diesel fuel etc. The total effi-ciency of the process in case of methanol production, defined by the amount of energy contained in the final products, taking into account the energy consumption for the syn-thesis unit 5, is 0.960. The processed raw materials are not used for the energy produc-tion.
Example 2.
The processed raw materials are solid or liquid hydrocarbons or carbon-containing wastes. The process scheme is shown on Fig. 2a, 2b. The method is implemented as follows.
The raw material after appropriate preparation by a known technology is fed into the gasification reaction chamber assembly 1(Fig. 2), designed for processing solid or liquid raw materials, where gasification takes place under the action of oxygen, or wa-ter steam and oxygen, or plasma. The gas obtained as a result of the gasification proc-ess, consisting mainly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is fed into the engine 2, where it expands and transforms the mixture heat and kinetic energy into mechanical energy. The spent gas mixture is separated in the separation unit 8, the hydrogen and carbon monoxide are fed into the methanation reaction chamber 3, where a catalytic exothermal reaction takes place between hydrogen and carbon monoxide with forma-tion of a mixture of methane and water steam. The separated products are returned into the gasification reaction chamber assembly 1, and the methane-steam mixture is fed into the second engine 4, where it expands and transforms the mixture heat and kinetic energy into mechanical energy. After leaving the engine 4 the spent mixture goes into the gasification reaction chamber assembly 1, where it is converted back into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, closing the cycle.
In case of a constant raw materials supply and limited energy consumption, the hy-drogen and carbon monoxide may be fed into the synthesis reaction chambers 5 (Fig. 2a), skipping the methanation reaction chamber 3 and the engine 4. In the reaction chambers 5 the synthesis of the predetermined chenlicals takes place, after which they are stored, and by-products and purge gases return into the gasification reaction cham-ber assembly I through the engine 9.
For a complete utilization of the energy released in this cycle, all the reaction chambers and gas purification and separation unit 8 may be equipped with boilers 6 with superheaters (Fig. 2a). The water steam, obtained in these boiler, is fed into the steam turbine 7, providing additional energy production.
In a vehicle variant of the power unit (for example, for a locomotive or a ship) the following units are excluded from the scheme shown on the Fig. 2a: the synthesis reac-tion chambers 5, the boilers 6 and the engine 7, and the spent methane-steam mixture after the engine 4 is fed directly into the gasification reaction chambers assembly 1. For a complete transfonnation of the heat energy, that is released in the reaction chambers, into mechanical energy, and for lowering the working fluid temperature at the engines' inlet, noble gases or their mixtures (an argon and helium mixture, other mixtures) may be added to the gasification products, instead of installing boilers.
The variant shown in this example is one of a wide range of possible variants of re-alization of the method. This variant allows to process from several kilograms to sev-eral hundred thousand tons of raw materials daily. Amount of gases (hydrogen and car-bon monoxide) obtained in the process depends on the type of raw materials and varies from 1-1.5 m3/kg for low-grade brown coal and residential waste, to 3-3.5 m3/kg for black oil, oil residue and crude oil.
If the variant described in this example is used for processing a constant supply of waste or other raw materials, it is necessary to produce chemicals in order to prevent gaseous emissions.
The power value calculation can be done by the equation given in the Example 1.
Let us assume that the raw material for the processing is pressed sawdust.
Consumption of water steam for gasification is 0.4 kg for 1 kg of the sawdust, consumption of oxy-gen is 0.3 kg for 1 kg of the sawdust.
Initial data, used for the calculation:
methanol output - 0.492 kg for 1 kg of sawdust;
enthalpy of methanol combustion - 22.3 MJ/kg;
enthalpy of pressed sawdust combustion - 19.4 MJ/kg;
gasification process temperature -- 2073-2173 K;
pressure at the gasification reaction chambers assembly outlet - 8 MPa;
methane formation temperature - 1400 K;
5 pressure at the methanation reaction chamber outlet - 10 MPa;
methanol synthesis process pressure - 8 MPa;
temperature at the methanation reaction chamber outlet - 543 K;
live steam pressure - 3 MPa;
live steam enthalpy - 3390 kJ/kg;
10 - reheat steam pressure - 2.1 MPa;
- reheat steam enthalpy - 3450 kJ/kg;
- low-pressure steam pressure - 1.2 MPa;
- amount of gas, forming in gasification process - 1.95 kg for 1 kg of sawdust;
- amount of unreacted purge gases in methanol synthesis reaction chamber -0.54 kg 15 for 1 kg of sawdust;
- amount of live steam for the steam turbine during sawdust gasification -0.94 kg for I kg of sawdust;
- amount of reheat steam for the steam turbine during sawdust gasification -0.84 kg for 1 kg of sawdust;
- amount of low-pressure steam for the steam turbine during sawdust gasification -1.28 kg for 1 kg of sawdust.
Calculation results:
- amount of electrical energy produced by the steam turbine during gasification of 1 kg of sawdust - 0.70 kWh;
- amount of electrical energy produced by the main engines during gasification of 1 kg of sawdust - 1.23 kWh;
- total amount of energy produced by all turbines during gasification of 1 kg of saw-dust -- 1.93 kWh;
- amount of energy contained in the produced methanol - 3.07 kWh;
- thermal efficiency of the process - 0.928.
Example 3.
The processed raw material is water, unsuitable for drinking, or a mixture of water with any kind of carbon-containing organic or inorganic substances, including wastes and gases. One of the possible process schemes is shown on Fig. 3. The method is im-plemented as follows.
If the source water does not contain organic substances, it is mixed preliminarily by a known technology with carbon-containing products (crushed solid, liquid or gaseous, or any combination of them), and after that it is fed into the gasification reaction cham-bers assembly 1, where it is converted into a gas mixture during the gasification proc-ess. Amount of the gas mixture is selected to provide the following parameters of the assembly reaction zone: temperature 2000-5000 K with plasma temperature about K, and pressure 10-15 MPa, depending on elemental composition of admixtures in the processed water. At this temperature all substances, that does not contain carbon, are fused, discharged into the reactor's slag collector and utilized afterwards.
Carbon and water are converted into a gas mixture, consisting of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and partially or completely dissociated water molecules. The mixture is fed into the engine 2, where it expands and transforms its heat and kinetic energy into mechanical energy, and water steam from a built-in boiler 6 goes into the turbine 7, After leaving the en-gine 2 the gases go into the unit 8, where they are separated, and the water vapors are condensed. The hydrogen and carbon monoxide are fed partially to the methanation re-action chamber 3, and partially into the organic synthesis reaction chambers 5. The mixture of methane and steam, formed in the methanation reaction chamber, is fed into the engine 4, where it expands and transforms its heat and kinetic energy into mechani-cal energy, and after that into the gasification reaction chambers assembly 1.
The cycle is closed by that.
In case of processing waste water and water, polluted by organic substances, it is necessary to produce chemicals, because the substances in the cycle are not consumed theoretically. In case of using the method for water desalination inorganic chemicals may be produced also.
Initial data, used for the calculation:
- plasma torch power at water consumption of 1 liter/s and plasma temperature K - 24.3 MW;
If the source water does not contain organic substances, it is mixed preliminarily by a known technology with carbon-containing products (crushed solid, liquid or gaseous, or any combination of them), and after that it is fed into the gasification reaction cham-bers assembly 1, where it is converted into a gas mixture during the gasification proc-ess. Amount of the gas mixture is selected to provide the following parameters of the assembly reaction zone: temperature 2000-5000 K with plasma temperature about K, and pressure 10-15 MPa, depending on elemental composition of admixtures in the processed water. At this temperature all substances, that does not contain carbon, are fused, discharged into the reactor's slag collector and utilized afterwards.
Carbon and water are converted into a gas mixture, consisting of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and partially or completely dissociated water molecules. The mixture is fed into the engine 2, where it expands and transforms its heat and kinetic energy into mechanical energy, and water steam from a built-in boiler 6 goes into the turbine 7, After leaving the en-gine 2 the gases go into the unit 8, where they are separated, and the water vapors are condensed. The hydrogen and carbon monoxide are fed partially to the methanation re-action chamber 3, and partially into the organic synthesis reaction chambers 5. The mixture of methane and steam, formed in the methanation reaction chamber, is fed into the engine 4, where it expands and transforms its heat and kinetic energy into mechani-cal energy, and after that into the gasification reaction chambers assembly 1.
The cycle is closed by that.
In case of processing waste water and water, polluted by organic substances, it is necessary to produce chemicals, because the substances in the cycle are not consumed theoretically. In case of using the method for water desalination inorganic chemicals may be produced also.
Initial data, used for the calculation:
- plasma torch power at water consumption of 1 liter/s and plasma temperature K - 24.3 MW;
amount of heat, supplied to the reaction chamber every second (assuming the plasma torch efficiency 0.95) - 23.1 MJ;
water steam temperature at the turbine inlet - 1623 K;
water steam pressure at the turbine inlet -- 10 MPa;
- water steam pressure at the turbine outlet - 0.05 MPa;
- amount of heat, needed for evaporation of 1 kg of water and heating 1 kg of water steam up to 1400 K - 5.69 MJ;
- power of expansion turbine, taking the consumption of mixture of methane and wa-ter steam 1 kg/s, - 6.1 MW, comparing to that of the prototype 2.35 MW;
- adiabatic exponent for water steam - 1.226;
- specific gas constant for water steam - 461.5 J/(kg=K).
Calculation results:
- amount of water and water steam, being heated up to 1400 K by the released heat every second - 4.06 kg;
- steam turbine power - 11.59 MW;
- total power of all engines - 17.69 MW;
- flow of the mixture of methane and water steam in the engine to compensate for the heat losses - 1.48 kg/s, comparing to that for the prototype - 4.6 kg/s.
The products are: distilled water, electrical energy, heat energy, inorganic slag, products of organic and inorganic synthesis. Energy from external sources is not used for the synthesis of the listed products.
water steam temperature at the turbine inlet - 1623 K;
water steam pressure at the turbine inlet -- 10 MPa;
- water steam pressure at the turbine outlet - 0.05 MPa;
- amount of heat, needed for evaporation of 1 kg of water and heating 1 kg of water steam up to 1400 K - 5.69 MJ;
- power of expansion turbine, taking the consumption of mixture of methane and wa-ter steam 1 kg/s, - 6.1 MW, comparing to that of the prototype 2.35 MW;
- adiabatic exponent for water steam - 1.226;
- specific gas constant for water steam - 461.5 J/(kg=K).
Calculation results:
- amount of water and water steam, being heated up to 1400 K by the released heat every second - 4.06 kg;
- steam turbine power - 11.59 MW;
- total power of all engines - 17.69 MW;
- flow of the mixture of methane and water steam in the engine to compensate for the heat losses - 1.48 kg/s, comparing to that for the prototype - 4.6 kg/s.
The products are: distilled water, electrical energy, heat energy, inorganic slag, products of organic and inorganic synthesis. Energy from external sources is not used for the synthesis of the listed products.
Claims (4)
1. A method for transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cy-clic process comprising of feeding prepared raw materials into a gasification or conversion reaction chamber, where it undergoes a gasification or conversion in an autothermal or thermal mode, producing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and by-products, separating the by-products, feeding the hydrogen and carbon monox-ide mixture into the methanation reaction chamber, where it forms a mixture of methane and water steam, the working fluid, feeding the mixture into the en-gine, where it expands producing mechanical energy, wherein unseparated gasi-fication products, the first working fluid, are fed into the engine, and their ex-pansion in the engine transforms heat and kinetic energy of the mixture into me-chanical energy, and the spent first working fluid after being cooled in the en-gine is split to hydrogen, carbon monoxide and by-products, upon that the sepa-rated hydrogen and carbon monoxide go into the methanation reaction chamber, where in a catalytic process a methane-steam mixture, the second working fluid, is formed, which is fed into the second contour of the engine mentioned or into another engine, where it similarly transforms the mixture energy into mechani-cal energy by expanding, and the spent methane-steam mixture and the by-products are fed back into the gasifying or conversion reaction chamber, where they again form the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, closing the cy-cle.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the raw material gasification or con-version runs in a plasma-chemical or plasma-catalytic mode.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the plasma-forming substance in the plasmatron is water, or carbon dioxide, or a mixture of water and carbon diox-ide.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a noble gas or a noble gases mixture is added to the mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and to the mixture of methane and water steam.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| RU2008113761 | 2008-04-10 | ||
| RU2008113761/06A RU2386819C2 (en) | 2008-04-11 | 2008-04-11 | Method of energy conversion with regeneration of energy sources in barchan cyclic process |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2662053A1 true CA2662053A1 (en) | 2009-10-10 |
Family
ID=41161258
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2662053 Abandoned CA2662053A1 (en) | 2008-04-10 | 2009-04-08 | Method for the transformation of energy with energy carrier regeneration in a cyclic process |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2662053A1 (en) |
| RU (1) | RU2386819C2 (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN102927584A (en) * | 2012-07-09 | 2013-02-13 | 郭志男 | Industrial furnace for plasma water fuel |
| US20160258326A1 (en) * | 2013-03-27 | 2016-09-08 | Gennadij Pavlovich Barchan | Method for Converting Energy with Fuel Regeneration in a Cyclic Process of a Heat Engine |
-
2008
- 2008-04-11 RU RU2008113761/06A patent/RU2386819C2/en not_active IP Right Cessation
-
2009
- 2009-04-08 CA CA 2662053 patent/CA2662053A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN102927584A (en) * | 2012-07-09 | 2013-02-13 | 郭志男 | Industrial furnace for plasma water fuel |
| CN102927584B (en) * | 2012-07-09 | 2015-04-08 | 郭志男 | Industrial furnace for plasma water fuel |
| US20160258326A1 (en) * | 2013-03-27 | 2016-09-08 | Gennadij Pavlovich Barchan | Method for Converting Energy with Fuel Regeneration in a Cyclic Process of a Heat Engine |
| EP2980371A4 (en) * | 2013-03-27 | 2017-06-07 | Barchan, Gennadij Pavlovich | Method for converting energy with fuel regeneration in a cyclic process of a heat engine |
| US9850784B2 (en) * | 2013-03-27 | 2017-12-26 | Gennadij Pavlovich Barchan | Method for converting energy with fuel regeneration in a cyclic process of a heat engine |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| RU2008113761A (en) | 2009-10-20 |
| RU2386819C2 (en) | 2010-04-20 |
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