Boiler Steam Generator Research Articles

Research on the design of hydraulic heater and optimization of energy matching of internal combustion engine heated steam generator

A novel internal combustion engine heated steam generator (ICEHSG) and the energy-matching optimization method are proposed in this paper. In the ICEHSG, the energy generated by the internal combustion engine (ICE) of the vehicle is converted to thermal energy as the heating source of the steam generator. Firstly, the prototype model of the hydraulic heater (HH) of the ICEHSG is established, and the relevant structural parameters are optimized based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Secondly, the energy matching between HH and ICE is optimized based on the particle swarm algorithm with compression factors (CFPSO). Finally, the energy provided by the ICEHSG and the required energy of the steam generation process is optimized, and the analysis is combined with the actual engineering case. The simulation results show that when the inclination angle of the blade is 45°, the number of rotor and stator blades is 31–33, and the diameter of the circular circle is 386 mm, the torque performance and heating performance of the HH are optimal. Meanwhile, the maximum thermal power can be obtained when the liquid filling rate of the HH is 100%. After optimization, the maximum torque of the HH working with the ICE is increased by 8.07%. Compared with the traditional boiler steam generator, the ICEHSG system proposed in this paper can increase the thermal efficiency by 1.3%–2.7% and reduce the cost by 37%.

Novel integrated mechanical biological chemical treatment (MBCT) systems for the production of levulinic acid from fraction of municipal solid waste: A comprehensive techno-economic analysis

This paper, for the first time, reports integrated conceptual MBCT/biorefinery systems for unlocking the value of organics in municipal solid waste (MSW) through the production of levulinic acid (LA by 5wt%) that increases the economic margin by 110–150%. After mechanical separation recovering recyclables, metals (iron, aluminium, copper) and refuse derived fuel (RDF), lignocelluloses from remaining MSW are extracted by supercritical-water for chemical valorisation, comprising hydrolysis in 2wt% dilute H2SO4 catalyst producing LA, furfural, formic acid (FA), via C5/C6 sugar extraction, in plug flow (210–230°C, 25bar, 12s) and continuous stirred tank (195–215°C, 14bar, 20min) reactors; char separation and LA extraction/purification by methyl isobutyl ketone solvent; acid/solvent and by-product recovery. The by-product and pulping effluents are anaerobically digested into biogas and fertiliser. Produced biogas (6.4MWh/t), RDF (5.4MWh/t), char (4.5MWh/t) are combusted, heat recovered into steam generation in boiler (efficiency: 80%); on-site heat/steam demand is met; balance of steam is expanded into electricity in steam turbines (efficiency: 35%).