Optimal retrofit of a novel multi-component supercritical thermal fluid generation system via thermodynamic analysis

Abstract

• A novel thermal fluid generation system is first developed, introduced and modelled. • Sensitivity analysis of three key single factors and their combinations are performed. • Reactor and heat exchanger are the bottleneck units to overall efficiency improvement. • An optimal retrofit design with around 10% efficiency increased are proposed. Multi-component supercritical thermal fluid (mcSCTF) has been recently recognized as a promising media for enhancing heavy oil recovery. For its economic application, an efficient mcSCTF generation should be studied. In this work, a novel experimental system with various units is being first introduced for mcSCTF generation and theoretically modelled for the energy and exergy analysis as the two contributions of this work. Based on the results, optimal retrofit strategy is proposed as the coming improvement. Starting with a specific experimental setup, theoretical modeling methods including Gibbs free energy minimization and mass balances are employed to predict the output of the core unit of reactor. The models are validated using measured experimental data. Then, energy and exergy analysis are conducted to quantify the energy and exergy losses in each unit. The reactor, heat exchanger and compressor are found to contribute for the major exergy losses accounting for 40.1%, 39.4% and 12.3%, respectively. With this, sensitivity analysis of three key factors (i.e., reactor heat dissipation rate, heat exchanger efficiency, and compressor isentropic efficiency) as well as their combinations are performed to identify potential solutions for improving efficiency. Finally, a retrofit design with around 10% efficiency enhancement is proposed.