Power system and apparatus for utilizing waste heat

• US 6,968,690 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2004
• Issued: 11/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kalina Power Limited
• Original Assignee: Kalex, LLC
• Inventors: Kalina, Alexander I.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HOANG M
• Application Number:
  US10/831,771
• Publication Number:
  US 20050235645A1
• Time in Patent Office: 585 Days
• Field of Search: 606/49, 606/51, 606/71
• US Class Current: 60/649
• CPC Class Codes: F01K 25/065 with an absorption fluid remaining at least partly in the liquid state, e.g. water for ammonia F01K5/00 takes precedence

Abstract

A new Kalina thermodynamic cycle is disclosed where a multi-component working fluid is fully vaporized in a boiler utilizing waste heat streams such as flue gas streams from cement kilns so the energy can be extracted from the streams and converted to usable electrical or mechanical energy in a turbine subsystem and after extraction, the spent stream is fully condensed in a distillation-condensation subsystem using air and/or water coolant streams. A new method for implementing the improved Kalina thermodynamic cycle is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A system for converting thermal energy to a more usable form of energy comprising:

a boiler subsystem adapted to fully vaporize and superheat a stream of a working solution comprising a desired composition of a multi-component working fluid using one or a plurality of waste heat streams;

a turbine subsystem including a high pressure and a low pressure portion and an intermediate extraction port, where the turbine subsystem is designed to extract energy from the fully vaporized, superheated working solution stream forming a spent stream of the working solution; and

a distillation-condensation subsystem including a plurality of heat exchangers designed to efficiently condense one or a plurality of streams into a fully condensed initial working solution stream using one or a plurality of coolant streams.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the boiler includes a higher temperature portion designed to superheat the working solution stream and a lower temperature portion designed to heat two input working solution streams to an intermediate heated state.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the multi-component working fluid comprises a lower boiling point component and a higher boiling point component.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the multi-component working fluid is selected from the group consisting of an ammonia-water mixture, a mixture of two or more hydrocarbons, a mixture of two or more freons, and a mixture of hydrocarbons and freons.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the multi-component working fluid comprises ammonia and water.

6. The system of claim 1, the distillation-condensation subsystem includes six heat exchanges, four of which transfer thermal energy between streams of the working fluid having the same of or different compositions and two of which transfer heat from two working fluid streams having the same or different compositions to external coolant streams, three separators for separating various working fluid streams having the same or different compositions into vapor streams having the same or different compositions and liquid streams having the same or different compositions, five throttle valves for lowering the pressure of up to five working fluid streams having the same or different compositions, and four pumps for increasing the pressure of four working fluid streams having the same or different compositions, where the system includes controllers sufficient to control stream flow rates to produce an output stream having desired properties.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the boiling subsystem includes two pumps adapted to increase the pressure of two working solution substreams to the same or different increased pressure, a boiler having a lower temperature portion and a higher temperature portion adapted to heat one of the two working solution substreams to a fully vaporized, superheated working solution stream after passing through both portions of the boiler and to heat the other of the two working solution substreams to an intermediate temperature, a separator for separation the heated other of the two working solution substreams to from a vapor stream and a liquid stream, a throttle valve for lowering a pressure of the liquid stream to a pressure equal to or substantially equal to a pressure of the spent working solution streams so that it can be mixed with the spent working solution stream.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the waste heat streams are flue gas streams from kilns or other furnaces.

9. A method for extracting energy from waste heat source stream comprising the steps of:

forming a stream of a working fluid formed in a distillation-condensation subsystem, where the working fluid comprises one or a plurality of lower boiling components and one or a plurality of higher boiling components and where the stream is fully condensed and has an initial working solution composition;

mixing the initial working solution composition stream with a vapor stream having a higher concentration of one or more of the lower boiling components of the working fluid to form an enriched stream having a working solution composition;

splitting the working solution composition stream into two substreams;

pumping each substream of individual higher pressures;

forwarding each higher pressure substream to a lower temperature portion of the boiler where each substream is heated by one or a plurality of waste heat streams where temperatures of the two substreams are greater than a condensation temperature of a least volatile corrosive component of the waste heat streams;

heating each substream to form mixed gas-liquid streams;

separating one of the mixed substream into a first liquid stream and the vapor stream;

heating the other mixed substream in the boiler to form a superheated working solution composition vapor stream;

expanding the superheated working solution composition vapor stream in a turbine subsystem, where a portion of thermal energy is converted into a more usable form of energy to form a spent working solution composition stream;

reducing a pressure of the liquid stream to a pressure equal to or substantially equal to a pressure of the spent working solution composition stream to form a reduced pressure stream;

mixing the reduced pressure stream with the spent working solution composition stream to form a combined stream; and

condensing the combined stream in the distillation-condensation subsystem to form the initial working solution composition stream.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the multi-component working fluid comprises a lower boiling point component and a higher boiling point component.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the multi-component working fluid is selected from the group consisting of an ammonia-water mixture, a mixture of two or more hydrocarbons, a mixture of two or more freons, and a mixture of hydrocarbons and freons.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the multi-component working fluid comprises ammonia and water.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

adjusting flow rates of one or more streams in the boiler subsystem, the turbine subsystem and the distillation-condensation subsystem depending on changes in temperature and composition of the waste heat stream, temperature of coolants streams and temperature and composition of the working solution stream sufficient to optimize energy extraction and to prevent any corrosive components in the waste heat streams from condensing on surfaces in the boiler.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the waste heat streams are flue gas streams from kilns or other furnaces.

15. A system for converting thermal energy to a more usable form of energy comprising:

a boiler subsystem adapted to fully vaporize and superheat a stream of a working solution comprising a desired composition of a multi-component working fluid using one or a plurality of waste heat streams;

a turbine subsystem including a high pressure and a low pressure portion and an intermediate extraction port, where the turbine subsystem is designed to extract energy from the fully vaporized, superheated working solution stream forming a spent stream of the working solution; and

a distillation-condensation subsystem including a plurality of heat exchangers designed to efficiently condense one or a plurality of streams into a fully condensed initial working solution using one or a plurality of coolant streams,

where the intermediate extraction port of the turbine subsystem is designed to withdraw a portion of an intermediate spent stream, which is mixed with a portion of a separator vapor stream and then combined with the fully condensed initial working solution to form the working solution.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the boiler includes a higher temperature portion designed to superheat the working solution stream and a lower temperature portion designed to heat two input working solution streams to an intermediate heated state.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the multi-component working fluid comprises a lower boiling point component and a higher boiling point component.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the multi-component working fluid is selected from the group consisting of an ammonia-water mixture, a mixture of two or more hydrocarbons, a mixture of two or more freons, and a mixture of hydrocarbons and freons.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the multi-component working fluid comprises ammonia and water.

20. The system of claim 15, the distillation-condensation subsystem includes six heat exchanges, four of which transfer thermal energy between streams of the working fluid having the same or different compositions and two of which transfer heat from two working fluid streams having the same or different compositions to external coolant streams, three separators for separating various working fluid streams having the same or different compositions into vapor streams having the same or different compositions and liquid streams having the same or different compositions, five throttle valves for lowering the pressure of up to five working fluid streams having the same or different compositions, and four pumps for increasing the pressure of four working fluid streams having the same or different compositions, where the system includes controllers sufficient to control stream flow rates to produce an output stream having desired properties.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the boiling subsystem includes two pumps adapted to increase the pressure of two working solution substreams to the same or different increased pressure, a boiler having a lower temperature portion and a higher temperature portion adapted to heat one of the two working solution substreams to a fully vaporized, superheated working solution stream after passing through both portions of the boiler and to heat the other of the two working solution substreams to an intermediate temperature, a separator for separation the heated other of the two working solution substreams to from a vapor stream and a liquid stream, a throttle valve for lowering a pressure of the liquid stream to a pressure equal to or substantially equal to a pressure of the spent working solution streams so that it can be mixed with the spent working solution stream.

22. The system of claim 15, wherein the waste heat streams are flue gas streams from kilns or other furnaces.