Analytical and computational study of a novel waste-heat-recovery radial expander

据估计，加拿大制造过程中消耗的20-50%的能量最终通过热排气流、冷却水排放的废热以及热表面和热产品的热量传递而损失。**从这些废热中回收能源是一种零排放的替代品，可以替代昂贵的购买燃料或电力，**并将显著减少加拿大工业的能源消耗和温室气体排放。拟议的研究项目将对一种新的废热回收概念进行分析和计算分析，该概念从入口温度相对较低的加压流体流中提取功。该装置是一个径向涡轮膨胀器，通过旋转机械和装置内流体之间相互作用产生的摩擦力来回收废热。与现有的热回收**技术相比，概念**涡轮膨胀器的几何结构简单，制造和操作成本大大降低，并且有望达到足够高的效率，从而经济地从石油和天然气处理设施的废热中提取电力**。通过第一性原理分析和深入的计算流体动力学模拟，该研究项目将确定最大功率和效率的最佳膨胀器配置，研究设备内气动损失的来源，并根据现有损失来源的知识改进膨胀器的设计。该项目将开发出一种新型设备，能够以比现有设备更高的效率和更低的成本从废热源中提取电力，为加拿大的能源、石油、天然气和制造业节省大量资金和环境。

It is estimated that 20-50% of the energy consumed by Canadian manufacturing processes is ultimately lost via**waste heat emitted in hot exhaust streams, cooling water, and heat transfer from hot surfaces and products.**Recovering energy from this waste heat is an emission-free substitute for costly purchased fuels or electricity,**and will significantly reduce the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of Canadian industry. The**proposed research project will conduct an analytical and computational analysis of a novel waste heat recovery**concept that extracts work from a pressurized fluid stream with a relatively low inlet temperature. The device is**a radial turboexpander that recovers waste heat through frictional forces arising from the interaction between**the rotating machinery and fluid within the device. The geometrical simplicity of the conceptualized**turboexpander will make it much cheaper to manufacture and operate compared to existing heat recovery**technologies, and is expected to achieve a high enough efficiency so as to be economical for extracting power**from waste heat in oil and gas processing facilities. Through first-principles analytical analysis and in-depth**computational fluid dynamics simulations of the fluid flow within the expander, the research project will**identify the optimum expander configuration for maximum power and efficiency, investigate the sources of**aerodynamic losses within the device, and improve the expander design based on the knowledge of the loss**sources that are present. The project will lead to a novel device that can extract power from waste heat sources**with much higher efficiencies and lower costs than are currently available, bringing significant financial and**environmental savings to Canada's energy, oil and gas, and manufacturing industries.