JP2006284099A - Cold supply system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system effectively using the property of gas hydrate for efficiently supplying cold. <P>SOLUTION: The system comprises a gasifying device for gasifying gas hydrate to produce gas, a gas storage container for storing the gas, a turbine to be driven by the gas compressed in the gas storage container, and a heat pump including a compressor to be driven by the turbine. The heat pump further includes a first heat exchanger using the heat of medium compressed by the compressor for gasifying the gas hydrate, a second heat exchanger using the cold of the gas exhausted from the turbine for further cooling the medium cooled by the first heat exchanger, an expansion valve for expanding the medium cooled by the second heat exchanger, a third heat exchanger for supplying the cold from the medium expanded by the expansion valve, and a means for supplying the medium heated by the third heat exchanger to the compressor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cooling supply system using gas hydrate.

In recent years, natural gas hydrate has been developed so that natural gas can be supplied to all consumers. Gas hydrates containing natural gas hydrate are known to generate heat during the production process and absorb heat during the decomposition process, and heat pumps using these characteristics have been proposed (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).
JP 2004-101138 A JP 2004-101139 A JP 2004-101140 A

  However, in the heat pump as described above, since power for driving the compressor included in the heat pump is separately required, energy (for example, cold heat or the like) cannot be efficiently supplied, and energy can be more efficiently consumed. Development of a system capable of supplying

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the system which can supply cold energy efficiently using the characteristic of gas hydrate effectively.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a cold supply system according to the present invention includes a gasifier that gasifies gas hydrate to generate gas, and a gas storage container that stores the gas generated in the gasifier. A turbine driven by the gas compressed in the gas storage container, and a heat pump including a compressor driven by the turbine, wherein the heat pump further uses heat of the refrigerant compressed by the compressor Then, the first heat exchanger that warms and gasifies the gas hydrate, and the refrigerant cooled by the first heat exchanger using the cold heat of the gas discharged from the turbine. Further, a second heat exchanger for cooling, an expansion valve for expanding the refrigerant cooled by the second heat exchanger, and the refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve Luo comprising a third heat exchanger for supplying the cold heat, and means for supplying to the compressor the refrigerant heated by the third heat exchanger.

  The cold energy supply system according to the present invention may further include a generator driven by the turbine. The cold supply system according to the present invention may further include a plurality of the gas storage containers, and further include means for sequentially supplying the gas to the plurality of gas storage containers until a predetermined pressure is reached. As the above-mentioned gas hydrate, for example, natural gas hydrate can be used.

  Further, when the gas hydrate is a natural gas hydrate, the cold supply system according to the present invention may further include a gas power generation device that generates power by burning the natural gas discharged from the turbine. Good. Furthermore, the system according to the present invention uses a heat of exhaust gas obtained by the gas power generation device, and a fourth heat exchanger that warms water generated by gasifying the gas hydrate in the gasification device. May be further provided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the system which can supply cold heat efficiently using the characteristic of gas hydrate effectively can be provided.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

== Configuration of the cold energy supply system ==
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a cooling / heating supply system described as an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the cold energy supply system 100 according to the present invention includes a GH (gas hydrate) storage device 10, a gasifier 20, a gas storage container 30, a turbine 40, a heat pump 50, and the like.

  The GH storage device 10 is a device that stores gas hydrate. The GH storage device 10 is, for example, a transport device such as a car, a ship, and an airplane that stores and transports gas hydrate. The gasifier 20 is a device that generates gas by gasifying the gas hydrate supplied from the GH storage device 10. The gas storage container 30 is a pressure-resistant container that stores the gas generated in the gasifier 20. The gas storage container 30 stores the gas supplied from the gasifier 20 until a predetermined pressure is reached. The turbine 40 is a device that is driven by the gas compressed in the gas storage container 30. The turbine 40 is rotationally driven by being blown with compressed gas.

  The heat pump 50 is a device that supplies heat and cold through a refrigerant. As shown in FIG. 1, the heat pump 50 includes heat exchangers 51, 52, 54, an expansion valve 53, a compressor 55, and the like, which are connected by piping. The compressor 55 is a device that compresses the refrigerant to a high temperature, and is driven by the turbine 40.

  The heat exchanger 51 is provided in the gasifier 20, and uses the heat of the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 55 to apply heat to the gas hydrate supplied to the gasifier and gasify it. It is. The heat exchanger 52 is supplied to the turbine 40 from the gas storage container 30 and further cools the refrigerant cooled by the heat exchanger 51 using the cold generated by the expansion of the gas discharged from the turbine 40. Device. The expansion valve 53 expands and further cools the refrigerant cooled in the heat exchanger 52. The heat exchanger 54 is a device that cools air, water, a refrigerant of another device (for example, a freezer, a refrigerator, or the like) using the cold heat of the refrigerant cooled by the expansion valve 53. The refrigerant warmed by the heat exchanger 54 is supplied to the compressor 55. The refrigerant included in the heat pump 50 is circulated and used in the heat pump 50 in the order of the compressor 55 → the heat exchanger 51 → the heat exchanger 52 → the expansion valve 53 → the heat exchanger 54 → the compressor 55.

  As described above, the cold energy supply system 100 according to the present invention can gasify the gas hydrate using the heat of the refrigerant included in the heat pump 50 by including the above-described apparatus, and the gas hydrate can be gasified. As a result of gasification, a high-pressure gas can be obtained. Further, the gas hydrate characteristic that high pressure gas can be obtained by gasification is effectively used to rotate the turbine 40 and drive the compressor 55 of the heat pump 50 with the obtained driving force. It becomes like this. Further, cold heat obtained by gasifying the gas hydrate, cold heat generated by expansion of the gas discharged from the turbine 40, cold heat obtained by expanding the refrigerant by the expansion valve 53, etc. It will be possible to efficiently supply equipment and facilities that require cold heat, such as freezers, refrigerators, and air conditioners provided in factories, hotels, commercial facilities, and the like.

  In addition, in this Embodiment, although the gasifier 20 and the gas storage container 30 are provided separately, it is good also as performing the role of these apparatuses with one apparatus. However, since gas hydrate generates water by being decomposed, the cold heat supply system 100 according to the present invention separately provides the gasifier 20 and the gas storage container 30 in order to separate the gas and water. It is said. The cold supply system 100 according to the present invention may include a plurality of gas storage containers 30. As a result, the high-pressure gas can be sequentially supplied to the turbine 40. In this case, by storing the gas supplied from the gasifier 20 in one gas storage container 30, when the gas reaches a predetermined pressure, the gas is supplied from the gasifier 20 by means such as a switching valve. The gas transfer destination is switched to another gas storage container 30 to store the gas. In this way, the gas is sequentially supplied to the plurality of gas storage containers.

  The cold supply system 100 according to the present invention may include a plurality of gasifiers 20 and a plurality of gas storage containers 30. In this case, the refrigerant warmed by the compressor 55 is sequentially supplied to the heat exchangers 51 provided in the plurality of gasifiers 20 by means such as switching valves. Thereby, high-pressure gas can be obtained sequentially, and the compressor 55 can be continuously driven. Further, the heat exchanger 54 can always supply cold heat.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cold energy supply system 100 according to the present invention may further include a generator 60 that generates electricity by the driving force of the turbine 40. As a result, energy such as electricity and heat generated by the generator 60 can be used effectively.

  Further, the gas separated from the gas hydrate by the cold heat supply system 100 according to the present invention may be hydrated again, or the gas can be used as a fuel such as methane, ethane, propane, butane, natural gas or the like. In some cases, the cogeneration apparatus 70 may convert the energy into electricity or heat. The cogeneration apparatus 70 is, for example, a gas power generation apparatus such as a gas engine power generation apparatus or a gas turbine power generation apparatus.

  Furthermore, the cold heat supply system 100 according to the present invention further includes a heat exchanger that uses the heat discharged from the cogeneration apparatus 70 to heat water generated by the gas hydrate being separated in the gasifier 20. It may be. Thereby, exhaust heat can be used effectively.

== Processing procedure of the cold energy supply system ==
Next, an example of the processing procedure of the cold energy supply system in the present embodiment will be described.

  The gas hydrate supplied from the GH storage device 10 absorbs heat by a heat exchanger 51 of a heat pump provided in the gasifier 20 and separates it into gas and water. Thereafter, the gas is supplied to the gas storage container 30, and the water is discharged out of the apparatus 20. The discharged water can be used as a resource or used to cool the refrigerant of the heat pump 50. In the present embodiment, when the gas hydrate is separated into gas and water in the GH storage device 10, the inside of the GH storage device 10 becomes a high pressure due to the gas, so that the high-pressure gas is supplied to the gas storage container 30. However, when the pressure of the GH storage device 10 is higher than the pressure in the gas storage container 30, the gas may be supplied from the GH storage device 10 to the gas storage container 30 by a high-pressure pump or the like.

  The gas supplied to the gas storage container 30 is supplied to the turbine 40 when a predetermined pressure is reached in the container. Thereby, the turbine 40 is driven to rotate, and the compressor 55 of the heat pump 50 is driven. The high-pressure gas supplied to the turbine 40 may be an amount necessary to drive the compressor 55. Therefore, the surplus high-pressure gas may be supplied to another turbine to drive the generator 60, may be supplied to the cogeneration apparatus 70, may be used as a resource, or may be reused again. You may rate. Further, the low-pressure gas discharged from the turbine 40 may be supplied to the cogeneration apparatus 70, may be used as a resource, or may be hydrated again.

  On the other hand, in the heat pump 50, the heat of the refrigerant warmed by the compressor 55 is supplied to the gasifier 20, and the cold heat of the refrigerant cooled by the gasifier 20, the heat exchanger 52, the expansion valve 53, etc. It will be possible to efficiently supply equipment and facilities that require cold heat, such as freezers, refrigerators, and air conditioners provided in factories, hotels, commercial facilities, and the like.

  As described above, by processing the gas hydrate in the system 100 according to the present invention, resources such as gas and water contained in the gas hydrate can be used effectively. Moreover, it becomes possible to drive the compressor 55 of the heat pump 50 using the characteristics of the gas hydrate, so that energy can be used efficiently. Furthermore, the cold heat obtained by the system 100 according to the present invention can be efficiently supplied to devices and facilities that require cold heat, such as a freezer, a refrigerator, and an air conditioner.

  As the above-mentioned gas hydrate, for example, a flammable gas hydrate that can be used as a fuel such as methane hydrate, ethane hydrate, propane hydrate, butane hydrate, natural gas hydrate, and the like can be used. Well-known gas hydrates such as hydrogen hydrate, nitrogen hydrate, oxygen hydrate, carbon dioxide hydrate, etc. may be used.

  In addition, as the refrigerant used in the heat pump 50, known gases such as chlorofluorocarbon, carbon dioxide, and ammonia can be used. However, carbon dioxide having a high COP (coefficient of performance) and excellent economy, energy saving, and environmental performance can be used. It is preferable to use ammonia or the like.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the cooling-heat supply system demonstrated as one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 GH storage apparatus 20 Gasification apparatus 30 Gas storage container 40 Turbine 50 Heat pump 51,52,54 Heat exchanger 53 Expansion valve 55 Compressor 60 Generator 70 Cogeneration apparatus 100 Cold heat supply system

Claims (6)

A gasifier that gasifies gas hydrate to generate gas;
A gas storage container for storing the gas generated in the gasifier;
A turbine driven by the gas compressed in the gas storage vessel;
A heat pump including a compressor driven by the turbine;
With
The heat pump further includes:
A first heat exchanger that gasifies the gas hydrate using heat of the refrigerant compressed by the compressor;
A second heat exchanger that further cools the refrigerant cooled by the first heat exchanger by using the cold heat of the gas discharged from the turbine;
An expansion valve for expanding the refrigerant cooled by the second heat exchanger;
A third heat exchanger for supplying cold from the refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve;
Means for supplying the refrigerant heated by the third heat exchanger to the compressor;
A cold supply system characterized by including.   The cold energy supply system according to claim 1, further comprising a generator driven by the turbine. A plurality of the gas storage containers are provided,
The cold supply system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising means for sequentially supplying the gas to a plurality of the gas storage containers until a predetermined pressure is reached.   The cold supply system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the gas hydrate is natural gas hydrate.   The cold energy supply system according to claim 4, further comprising a gas power generation device that generates electricity by burning the natural gas discharged from the turbine. A fourth heat exchanger is further provided for warming water generated by gasifying the natural gas hydrate in the gasifier using heat of exhaust gas obtained by the gas power generator. The cold energy supply system according to claim 5.