Abstract
Compressed air is one of the most widely used industrial energy sources, and its production by mechanical compressors is extremely expensive and, in addition, inefficient. Therefore, the utilization of waste heat, which accrues on a large scale in many industrial applications, by means of a thermocompressor is an obvious alternative. This contribution presents a design approach to experimentally investigate a reciprocating thermocompressor with a self-actuated overdriven free displacer. These experiments shall be the basis for the design and realization of a cascade of identical stages, which has so far only been investigated by means of analytical modelling and theoretical similarity considerations. The main advantage of this approach is its extreme constructive simplicity and the expected self-regulating effect, which both facilitate a cost-effective production and operation. As the minimization of dead volume and fluid friction losses is essential, the heat exchangers and the regenerator are plainly realized by an annular gap around the displacer in the proposed design, thus further increasing its simplicity. The design parameters are determined by an optimization based on an analytical model extended by various losses and heat transfer limitations.
Highlights
Compressed air is an important industrial energy source, but its mechanical generation is costly and consumes large amounts of primary energy [1,2]
This contribution presents a design approach to experimentally investigate a reciprocating thermocompressor with a self-actuated overdriven free displacer. These experiments shall be the basis for the design and realization of a cascade of identical stages, which has so far only been investigated by means of analytical modelling and theoretical similarity considerations
As the minimization of dead volume and fluid friction losses is essential, the heat exchangers and the regenerator are plainly realized by an annular gap around the displacer in the proposed design, further increasing its simplicity
Summary
Compressed air is an important industrial energy source, but its mechanical generation is costly and consumes large amounts of primary energy [1,2]. One option to utilize such waste heat more efficiently is by reciprocating thermocompressors using air as the working fluid, which correspond to the displacer-heat exchanger system of a - or -Stirling engine, but feature two check valves instead of the compression piston. This concept dates back to a 1935 US patent by V. The project currently in progress at the Chair of Thermodynamics of TU Dortmund University aims at investigating the possibility of generating compressed air from waste heat by means of a cascade of identical thermocompressor stages
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