According to the scientists, the new method will enable the use of gases in energy generation systems, producing by-products in the form of compressed gases, as well as reducing the environmental load on the atmosphere. Their study results were published in the Sustainability journal.
Today, hot water boilers are used to supply heat to residential and non-residential buildings and production facilities, as well as provide consumers with hot water. Steam boilers are widely used for heating technology solutions and cleaning pipelines from oil products.
According to scientists from South Ural State University (SUSU), modern steam and hot water boilers operate with the highest possible efficiency at the moment. Increasing the efficiency of boilers can be achieved by utilizing heat energy losses (“waste heat”) that are dissipated into the atmosphere.
The researchers have developed a technology system for utilizing the heat of flue gases emitted by boiler units. It allows for the additional use of the temperature difference of the flue gases of about 20-30 degrees Celsius. The new system would contribute to reducing the environmental load on the atmosphere and increasing the efficiency of boiler plants, said Sergei Aliukov, Doctor of Sciences (Engineering) and Associate Professor of the SUSU Department of Digital Economy and Information Technologies.
The scientists also believe that this development would allow for the use of waste heat in energy generation for the operation of Li-Br (lithium-bromide) absorption refrigerating machines and in the gas extraction system from the water. Moreover, it could be used to create a system for obtaining secondary technological products in the form of compressed gases.
“To implement it in practice, we need to conduct a pilot study on the equipment that is part of the developed energy technological complex,” Konstantin Osintsev, Ph.D in Heat Power Engineering (Candidate of Science in Engineering) and Head of the SUSU Department of Industrial Heat Power Engineering, told Sputnik.
According to the authors of the research, the developed technology has the advantage of combining heat utilization and generating supplementary technological products. Similar research has so far been carried out only on contact heat exchangers used at thermal power plants.
Scientists have used mathematical and physical modeling methods. In the near future, the scientific team plans to build a prototype using funds raised through grants.