JPS63280805A - Energy recovery system for airlift device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To utilize thermal energy effectively by constructing an energy recovery system such that a turbine is driven through a heat cycle employing the heat of air compressed through an air compressor in an air lift device for lifting solid state material from the bottom of sea as a high heat source and power is generated. CONSTITUTION:An airlift device 1 supplies high pressure air from a compressor 6 through an air supply pipe 10 to the way of a lifting pipe 3 which sucks solid state material such as ore together with sea water when air ascends therethrough, then the solid state material is led into a gas/solid/liquid separation layer 5 and separated. Here, evaporators 16, 17 which exchange heat with high temperature air taken from an intermediate stage and final stage of the compressor 6 are coupled in series in a circulation pipe 14 for circulating working fluid such as Freon. The working fluid evaporated in the evaporators 16, 17 is employed for operating a turbine 13 and driving a generator 12, then heat exchanged in a condenser 18 with low temperature sea water separated through the separation tank 5 and condensed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an energy recovery device for effectively utilizing energy generated in an airlift device.

2. Description of the Related Art Airlift devices have been known as devices for lifting and collecting solid matter existing on the seabed, lakebed, riverbed, etc. This device separates water and solids from floating structures on the sea surface (for example, a floating structure lowered from a barge to the seabed with a solids collector attached to the bottom end). Furthermore, the air supply device is composed of a near compressor provided in multiple stages, a motor that rotationally drives the near compressor, and an air compressed by the near compressor. 2 In this airlift device, when air is supplied into the collection tube by the air supply device, the air rises in the collection tube and at the same time the seawater also rises, so solids are removed from the collector. The mixture is sucked into the collection pipe together with seawater and lifted to the sea surface.The pulled-up mixture enters a separation tank, where it is separated into air, seawater, and solids.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention According to the above-mentioned conventional configuration, the compressed air is cooled by an air cooler, but the heat removed here is not utilized and is released as is. Of this, only solid matter is recovered; for example, low-temperature seawater from the ocean floor is discharged directly into the ocean, leading to the problem of wasted energy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an energy recovery device for an air system that can solve the above problems.

J: Means for Solving the Problem In order to solve the above problem, the energy recovery device in the air lift device of the present invention includes a collection tube whose lower end is opened to the water bottom and whose upper end is opened above the water surface. This is an energy recovery device for an air lift device, which is composed of an air compressor that supplies air midway through the collection tube, and a gas-solid-liquid separation device that separates the gas-solid-liquid mixture lifted up through the collection tube. A turbine connected to the generator, a circulation path for circulating the turbine working fluid between the outlet and inlet of the turbine, and a circulation path interposed in the turbine inlet chamber in the middle of the circulation path to operate the air compressor. An evaporator that heats and evaporates the working fluid using the heat of the compressed air; and an evaporator that is installed at the turbine outlet port in the circulation path, and the working fluid vapor that has passed through the turbine is separated by the separation device. # by low temperature water! It consists of a condenser that condenses water.

Effect In the above configuration, the heat of the air compressed by the air compressor on the air lift device side is used to condense and regenerate the low temperature water pumped into the turbine, so the energy generated on the air lift device side can be recovered. Can be done.

Example Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

1 is an air lift device, for example, for lifting minerals from the seabed. This air lift device 1 includes a collection tube 3 whose lower end is connected to a collector (raking device) 2 and opened to the seabed, and whose upper end is opened onto a floating structure (not shown) on the sea surface. An air supply device 4 that supplies air to the middle of the lower part of the pipe 3, and a gas-solid-liquid separation tank that separates the gas-solid-liquid mixture pulled up through the collection pipe 3t (an example of a gas-solid-liquid separation device). It consists of 5. The air supply device 4 also includes a compressor (air compressor) 6, a motor 7 that drives the compressor 6,
It consists of an air introduction pipe 9 that introduces air to the compressor 6 through a filter 8t, and an air supply pipe 10 that supplies air from the compressor 8 to the collection pipe 3. Reference numeral 11 denotes a circulation pipe (circulation path) 14 for circulating a turbine working fluid, such as fluorocarbon, between the above-mentioned processing port, and a circulation pipe 14 that is interposed midway near the turbine inlet and drawn out from the intermediate stage of the compressor 6. 1st x which heats and evaporates the syflon liquid by the heat of the air flowing in the air extraction pipe 15;
The generator 16 and a second evaporator, which is also installed in the middle of the circulation pipe 14 and closer to the turbine inlet, heats and evaporates the fluorocarbon liquid using the heat of the air flowing in the final stage of the compressor 6, that is, the air supply pipe 10. 17, a condenser 18 which is installed near the turbine outlet in the middle of the circulation pipe 14 and condenses the Freon X9C that has passed through the turbine 13 into the low temperature seawater separated by the separation N5 of the air lift device 1; It consists of a fluorocarbon bond 19 interposed in the middle of the circulation pipe 14 between the condenser 18 and the first evaporator 16. Further, a seawater transfer pipe 2o is provided between the separation tank 5 and the condenser 18.

Next, the V effect will be explained.

First, the air lift device 1 side will be explained.

At the same time as it rises in the pipe, the seawater also rises, and solids such as minerals are sucked in from the collector 2 at the lower end along with the seawater. The minerals and seawater sucked into the collection tube 3 are raised above the sea surface together with compressed air and enter the gas-solid-liquid separation tank 5, where they are separated into compressed air, seawater, and minerals, respectively.

Next, the energy recovery device 11 side will be explained.
The fluorocarbon liquid transferred by the fluorocarbon bonder 19 is first heated and evaporated in the first evaporator 16 by the heat of medium pressure air drawn from the intermediate stage of the compressor 6, and then in the second evaporator 17 to the final stage of the compressor 6. The heat of the high-pressure air accelerates heating evaporation.

This fluorocarbon vapor enters the turbine 13, rotates the generator 12, and then passes through the condenser 18 from the separation tank 5 to the seawater transfer pipe 20.
It is condensed and regenerated by low-temperature seawater sent through the T-T.

Then, this condensed fluorocarbon liquid is sent again to the evaporators 16 and 17 by the pump 19, and the above-mentioned power generation operation is repeated. In this way, the energy generated by the air in the intermediate and final stages of the compressor 6 on the thermal lift device 1 side can be recovered.

By the way, in the above embodiment, low-temperature seawater is used to condense the fluorocarbon vapor, and the condensed fluorocarbon liquid is further heated by high-temperature seawater near the sea surface to make the fluorocarbon liquid. Alternatively, the temperature may be raised before sending to the evaporator. In addition, in the above embodiment, the compressed air from the compressor was directly guided to each evaporator, but the heat of the compressed air was first given to another heat medium, and then the heat medium was guided to each evaporator. The fluorocarbon liquid may be heated and evaporated. Furthermore, although only one compressor was provided in the above embodiment, a plurality of low-pressure compressors, medium-pressure compressors, and high-pressure compressors may be connected in series to perform compression in multiple stages. .

Of course, in this case, air is drawn out from the intermediate stage of each compressor, and the heat of the air is used to heat and evaporate the fluorocarbon liquid. In addition, as an example of the turbine working fluid, the effect of the flow angle is as follows. According to the configuration of the present invention described above, the heat of the air compressed by the air compressor is used as a high heat source, and the hot water from the gas-solid-liquid separation device is used as a high heat source. As a low heat source, the thermal cycle l of the working fluid is
v′j1r: Since this thermal cycle rotates the turbine and generates electricity, it is possible to recover the thermal energy generated by the air cooler and the thermal energy of low-temperature water that was previously released. can.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawing is an overall schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. 1... Air lift device, 3... Collection tube, 4... Air supply device, 5... Separation tank (gas solid-liquid separation device), 6...
... Compressor (air compressor), 11 ... Energy recovery device, 12 ... Generator, 13 ... Turbine,
14... Circulation pipe (circulation path), 16... First evaporator,
17...Second evaporator, 18...Condenser.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A collection pipe whose lower end is opened to the bottom of the water and whose upper end is opened above the water surface, an air compressor that supplies air to the middle of this collection pipe, and a mixture of gas-solid-liquid pulled up through the collection pipe. An energy recovery device for an airlift device comprising a gas-solid-liquid separator that separates the
a turbine connected to a generator; a circulation path for circulating a turbine working fluid between an outlet and an inlet of the turbine;
An evaporator is installed near the turbine inlet in the middle of this circulation path to heat and evaporate the working fluid using the heat of the air compressed by the air compressor, and an evaporator is installed in the middle of the circulation path near the turbine outlet. and a condenser for condensing the working fluid vapor that has passed through the turbine with the low-temperature water separated by the separation device.