6

JACIMOVI
ET AL.
FIGURE 4 Original NBC from Reference 29
the one of Rankine cycle, considering the same boundary
conditions.
According to Reference 30, this cycle is typically used
for small power plants having a single unit capacity up to
6.5 MW.30 However, the work presented in this paper
will show that the NBC can be used with success even in
the biomass power plants.
Facts are that the auto-ignition temperature of ammo-
nia is 651
C, the lower explosive limits of ammonia vapor
in air is 0.15kmolAmmonia/kmolAmmonia + Air, and combus-
tion temperatures in biomass heat recovery systems are
generally 400
C to 600
C. These facts lead to the conclu-
sion that the pre-heater, boiler, and superheater can all
be heated directly using the flue gases—there is no need
to incorporate a thermal oil system.
NBC is based on the following operating principle:
completely condensed working fluid having “basic com-
position” (stream 1—see Reference 29) is pumped to an
intermediate pressure (stream 2) using pump, P1, and is
subsequently heated in the economizer, RQ2-RQ3-RQ4
(stream 3), and heater, H4 (RQ) (stream 4).
C
At this stage, the fluid is partially evaporated and the
released vapor is significantly enriched by the more vola-
tile component of the mixture (eg, ammonia in
ammonia-water systems). Working fluid is then sepa-
rated in flash drum, FD (the vapor evolved—stream 5—
is in equilibrium with the residual liquid—stream 6) and
the released vapor (stream 5) is mixed with the part of
the remaining liquid (stream 7) to form the “working
composition” (stream 8—see Reference 29). Both this
“working composition” fluid (stream 8) and the
remaining liquid from flash drum (stream 9) are sent to
the economizer, RQ4, to preheat the original fluid
(stream 2) and recuperate heat. After cooling the “work-
ing composition” fluid (stream 10), the fluid is completely
condensed and subcooled (stream 13) by the cooling
water in heat exchanger, H2 (HEC + HESC). This work-
ing liquid (stream 13) is then pumped using pump, P2, to
a high pressure (stream 14) and sent to preheater, boiler,
and superheater, H3 (HEP/HEB/HES), where it is
completely evaporated and superheated (stream 15). In
the original cycle it is suggested that the evaporator can