Abstract
Although steam is widely used in industrial production, there is often an imbalance between steam supply and demand, which ultimately results in steam waste. To solve this problem, steam accumulators (SAs) can be used as thermal energy storage and buffer units. However, it is difficult to promote the application of SAs due to high investment costs, which directly depend on the usage volume. Thus, the operation of SAs should be optimized to reduce initial investment through volume minimization. In this work, steam sources (SSs) are classified into two types: controllable steam sources (CSSs) and uncontrollable steam sources (UCSSs). A basic oxygen furnace (BOF) was selected as an example of a UCSS to study the optimal operation of an SA with a single BOF and sets of parallel-operating BOFs. In another case, a new method whereby CSSs cooperate with SAs is reported, and the mathematical model of the minimum necessary thermal energy storage capacity (NTESC) is established. A solving program for this mathematical model is also designed. The results show that for UCSSs, applying an SA in two parallel-operating SSs requires less capacity than that required between a single SS and its consumer. For CSSs, the proposed minimum NTESC method can effectively find the optimal operation and the minimum volume of an SA. The optimized volume of an SA is smaller than that used in practice, which results in a better steam storage effect.
Highlights
Steam has been used as a heating or power source in various industries, including chemical, dyeing, pharmaceutical, and electrical industries [1,2,3,4]
When automatically pressure is lower than the saturation pressure corresponding to the temperature of water stored, theinternal internalpressure pressureisislower lowerthan thanthe thesaturation saturationpressure pressurecorresponding correspondingto tothe thetemperature temperatureof of the the saturated water becomes superheated, and the water boils immediately to evaporate as water stored, the saturated water becomes superheated, and the water boils immediately to water stored, the saturated water becomes superheated, and the water boils immediately to saturated steam
steam sources (SSs) are divided into high, medium, and low-pressure according to their pressure
Summary
Steam has been used as a heating or power source in various industries, including chemical, dyeing, pharmaceutical, and electrical industries [1,2,3,4]. To balance the steam load between SSs and consumers, steam accumulators (SAs) are used as thermal energy storage and buffer units [9,10], which improves the operating condition and supplied steam quality of boilers, saving large amounts of energy. With the development of energy-saving technologies and devices, SAs are employed in various fields outside of boiler systems This widespread use can be attributed to the main advantages of higher energy storage performance, rapid steam discharge rate, and elimination of steam load fluctuation. Valenzuela et al [26] discussed the control scheme of the direct steam generation in solar boilers All of these previous studies contributed greatly to the design and application of SAs. as an effective and efficient energy storage and buffer unit, their true application has not yet been fully satisfied. In this work, SSs are divided into two types: controllable and uncontrollable, while the optimal operation and minimum volume of an SA are studied
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