Mitigating low-temperature corrosion in flue-gas heat exchangers for improving thermal storage efficiency in geothermal power plants

Abstract

Geothermal energy is a renewable and stable energy source that plays a crucial role in providing heat. However, underground sulfur fumes have been restricting the heat exchange and storage rate for years. Accurately predicting the condensation of acidic substances of flue gas heat exchangers is crucial in geothermal heat storage. In this paper, Acid and water vapor have been firstly utilized to forecast the deposition of acidic substances on the heat exchanger’s surface. Utilizing gas–liquid equilibrium data of H2SO4-H2O solution and multi-component transport theory, a numerical model has been developed to analyze the impact of acidic deposition and corrosion characteristics. The results shown a correlation between the distribution of acidic substances deposition within heat exchanger and temperature distribution. When water vapor volume fraction increased from 3 % to 18 %, there was a corresponding increase of acid condensation rate on surface. Specifically, the condensation rate increased by 9.6 %, 16.1 %, and 21.8 % respectively under the flow rates of 5 m/s, 8 m/s, and 10 m/s, while the acid mass fraction decreased by 22.4 %, 20.7 %, and 20.1 % respectively. Acidic substances predominantly deposit in specific areas of the heat exchanger. Moreover, Water vapor content increasing can lead to reduction deposition of acidic substances, this may be a potential method to reduce loss of heat exchanger and increase heat storage. These findings offer a significant step forward heat exchanger technology and geothermal energy application.