Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

Recuperators
Nowadays unfortunately hydrocarbon fuels are becoming scarcer and the world is not fully aware of this, which results in wasting energy like its going to last forever. Many factories, homes, offices and apartments waste energy normally in the form of hot fluids, this is why recuperators exist. The invention of a recuperator serves to recuperate, or reclaim the heat, in order to reuse or recycle it.1 A recuperator (energy recovery heat exchanger) which is normally positioned within the supply and exhaust air streams of an air handling system. They are also installed where industrial processes take place (exhaust gases) in order to recover the waste heat.

Figure 1: Waste Heat ( Recuperator)2

Recovery System

Figure 1 above shows a waste heat recovery system (recuperator) which is manufactured to be used for recovering heat from the furnace waste (Chimney). Furthermore heat recovery can be used in the burner which increases the furnace efficiency. This includes fast heating, high flame temperature and less payback period. The recuperator showed in figure 1 can be radiation type and convection type.
Wikipedia. (N/A). Recuperators. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recuperator. Last accessed 23rd Feb 2012. 2 Technoterm Engineers. (N/A). Waste Heat Recovery System. Available: http://www.technothermengineers.com/wasteheat-recovery-system.html. Last accessed 23rd Feb 2012.
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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

Figure 2: Air handling unit with heat recovery3

Figure 2 shows an energy saving solution ventilation which is used in apartments, cottages, single-family houses, workshops and trade premises. The unit provides air cleaning, fresh air supply to the premise and removal of extract air from the premises. Extract air thermal energy is transferred to the paper recuperator plates and is used to warm up the supply air flow. Built-in recuperator prevents heat losses and saves energy costs for warming up of supply air during winter time. Further discussion on how recuperators work will be discussed further along this assignment. So basically I gave two general examples of recuperators and where they are used so that one can have an idea what is the aim of inventing and using these heat recovery systems. Moreover one can look at a recuperator in this way: its a unit that removes heat from a waste fluid and adds it to another fluid where it would be useful.

Types of heat recuperators

Air to Air There exist two types of recuperating systems, which are Air to Air and Air-Liquid-Air. Both these systems include a bag filter which increases the efficiency, as deposits on the heat surface cannot be
Vents. (N/A). Vents vue 100 P mini. Available: http://www.ventilationsystem.com/cat/508/. Last accessed 23rd Feb 2012.
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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

completely avoided even with correctly selected air velocities in the dust loaded air. One type of a heat recuperator is shown below. The ambient drying air is preheated by means of the outgoing warm exhaust air passing counter-currently recuperator.4 through the heat transfer surface of the

Figure 3: Operating air flow inside the recuperator5

To understand better what happens in a recuperator figure 3 shows the same heat recovery system as in figure 2 but this time showing what happens exactly inside. Warm extract air is moved by exhaust fan from the premises through the extract filter, enters the recuperator where it transfers thermal energy to its elements and then is exhausted outside. Further more cold air intake from outside is moved by the supply fan first to the supply filter where it is purified, then to the recuperator where it absorbs a greater part of thermal energy from extract air and then supplied to the room. The recuperator reduces thermal energy losses and saves operating costs.
GEA. (N/A). Heat recuperators. Available: http://www.niroinc.com/html/drying/fdpdfs/Heat%20broch%203.pdf. Last accessed 23rd Feb 2012. 5 Vents. (N/A). Vents vue 100 P mini. Available: http://www.ventilationsystem.com/cat/508/. Last accessed 23rd Feb 2012.
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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

Another type of recuperator which falls under air to air classification is a run around coil energy recovery heat exchanger. This type is normally positioned inside the supply and exhaust air streams of an air handling system or in the exhaust gases of an industrial process, to recover the heat energy.

Figure 4:

of air handling unit with runaround recovery coils6

Schematic

Figure 4 shows an application of a runaround coil, wherein one of the coil is placed before the cooling coil and the second after the cooling coil. The system contains a circulating pump and also an expansion vessel, to accommodate changes in fluid pressure. The recovery of energy from the hot outdoor air is used in reheating the overcooled air, which achieves dual energy savings. This set up simultaneously reduces the required cooling and reheat energy needed. The use of this system is generally limited to situations where the air streams are separated and no other type of device can be utilised since the heat recovery efficiency is lower than other forms of air-toair heat recovery.7 Air-Liquid-Air Another type of recuperator which uses a different system of how to save energy is Air-Liquid-Air.
ASHRAE Journal. (1998). Fresh air treatment in hot and humid climates. Available: http://dcproeng.com/article.php?article=12. Last accessed 24rd Feb 2012. 7 Wikipedia. (N/A). Run around coil. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_around_coil. Last accessed 24rd Feb 2012.
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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

Units which are designed to work on the air-liquid-air principles will consist of two heat exchangers, one for heat transfer between the dryer exhaust air and the other, a finned tube heat exchanger for preheating the inlet air to the dryer. Basically what happens is that water or water-glycol solution is re-circulated between the two heat exchangers as the heat transfer liquid. Two types of air-liquid-air recupertors which are used nowdays are process-therm heat exchanger and hex-tube heat heat exchanger. In process-therm heat exchanger the heat transfer surface consists of thermal plates with individual liquid connectons and free flow areas between the plates for easy cleaning. The thermal plates are normally stainless steel to be resistant against corrosion.

Figure 5: Schematic of process therm heat exchanger with multiple sinks8

Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of a process therm heat exchanger. In this system shown multiple sinks are used. The more sinks the better. The thermal plates are assembled vertically in compact plate banks with separation between the plates. The exhaust air passes down between the plates and the heat transfer

GEA. (N/A). Heat recuperators. Available: http://www.niroinc.com/html/drying/fdpdfs/Heat%20broch%203.pdf. Last accessed 23rd Feb 2012.
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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

liquid is re-circulated within the plates. The closer the plates the higher the heat transfer. The other type of air-liquid-air recuperator is the hex tube heat exchanger (figure 6). This type consists of a shell and tube made up of hexagonal tubes normally made from stainless steel. The exhaust air is enters from the top through the tubes and the heat transfer liquid is re-circulated on the outside.

Figure 6: Hex tube heat

exchanger9

Effectiveness of a heat exchanger (recuperator)

The quality (effectiveness) of the heat exchange process is determined by the ratio of the heat exchanging capacitance to the heat capacity flow. Figure 7 shows the effectiveness as function of the ratio of the heat exchanging capacitance to the heat capacity flow (also called the Number of Transfer Units, NTU) for several types of recuperators.

GEA. (N/A). Heat recuperators. Available: http://www.niroinc.com/html/drying/fdpdfs/Heat%20broch%203.pdf. Last accessed 24rd Feb 2012.
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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

Figure 7: Graph showing effectiveness of different type of flows10

The effectiveness of a heat exchanger depends on the geometry of the heat exchanger as well as the flow arrangement. Therefore, different types of heat exchangers have different effectiveness relations. The highest effectiveness can be obtained with a counter flow recuperator. To achieve the required 93 % an NTU of 13 is required. With the theoretical perfect unmixed cross flow recuperator it is impossible to achieve the 93%. Real cross flow recuperators are positioned somewhere between the completely mixed and unmixed recuperator, leading to a maximum effectiveness of about 75%.11 Parallel flow recuperation is only used in some chemical mixing processes. Counter flow is 10% better than cross flow at the same NTU. Due to counter flow having the highest effectiveness it is used when excellent results (transfer of heat) would be needed. What happens exactly in this type of heat exchanger is that the hot and cold fluids enter from opposite ends and the outlet temperature of the cold fluid may exceed the outlet temperature of the hot fluid.
Recair. (N/A). heat exchanging capacitance >> heat capacity flow. Available: http://www.recair.nl/nl/info/warmtewisselende-oppervlak/. Last accessed 25rd Feb 2012. 11 Recair. (N/A). heat exchanging capacitance >> heat capacity flow. Available: http://www.recair.nl/nl/info/warmtewisselende-oppervlak/. Last accessed 25rd Feb 2012.
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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

The hot and cold fluids enter the heat exchanger from opposite ends as shown in figure 8, and the outlet temperature of the cold fluid in this case may exceed the outlet temperature of the hot fluid. In the limiting case, the cold fluid will be heated to the inlet temperature of the hot fluid. However, the outlet temperature of the cold fluid can never exceed the inlet temperature of the hot fluid, since this would be a violation of the second law of thermodynamics.

Figure 8: Schematics of a counter flow double pipe heat exchanger12

For

specified

inlet

and

outlet

temperatures,

the

log

mean

temperature difference for a counter-flow heat exchanger is always greater than that for a parallel-flow heat exchanger. This means a smaller surface area which means a smaller heat exchanger is needed to achieve a specified heat transfer rate in a counter-flow heat exchanger. So in conclusion if the recuperator will consist of a counter flow system than it will have a much better effectiveness and the size as stated before can be smaller than in parallel flow. This is ideal when used for small applications like in houses and offices.

Type of heat transfer in a recuperator

There exist recuperators where the heat recovery is done by radiation and/ or conduction. I am going to speak about recuperators which use radiation, conduction and both for heat recovery.

Dr. Ivanka Boras, PhD (2012). Thermo and fluid dynamics. Zagreb: Faculty of Mechanical engineering and Naval Architecture.Slide 45.
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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

Radiation recuperators Radiation recuperators are high temperature heat exchangers that utilise radiation heat transfer to preheat combustion air or gas for the purpose of saving fuel.

Figure 9: Data of how many fuel can be saved by using a radiation recuperator13

By recovering heat from the hot waste gas exiting a furnace and transferring it to the combustion air feeding the burners, fuel usage can be reduced by an average of 35%. Figure 9 shows that the higher the waste gas temperature the more fuel is saved. Up to 75% of the available energy in the fuel may be carried out of the furnace in the waste gas, therefore, heat recovery is essential for fuel conservation and economical operation. With fuel costs rising, recuperation is certain to play a vital role in the future. Different types of recuperators exist that use radiation for transfer of thermal energy but this depends on where the heat recovery unit is going to be used. Convection recuperators Convection recuperators also referred to as "flue" or "canal" recuperators are tubular heat exchangers which fall under air-to-air category previously mentioned on page 2 of this assignment.
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Hamon. (N/A). Radiation recuperators. Available: http://www.hamonusa.com/thermaltransfercorp/radiationrecuperators. Last accessed 25th Feb 2012.

Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

Convection heat transfer is used to preheat combustion air or gas for the purpose of saving fuel.

Figure 14: Data of how many fuel can be saved by using a radiation recuperator14

One can notice that in figure 14 the graph shows lower temperatures than in figure 13. This is because convection type recuperators are normally used for lower temperatures than when radiation type is used. When choosing a convection type heat recovery system the best choice of materials will pay off by giving a longer life and an excellent relation between quality, price and efficiency. Radiation and Conduction recuperators This thermal system provides a large surface of exchange whilst taking a minimum space. After conducting research about recuperators that use both radiation and conduction I have found a company that sell these types of heat recovery units (figure 15). They are especially suitable for heat furnaces, treatment furnaces, solid wastes incineration plants and chemical industry plants. This type of equipment consist of a double shell and a tubes bundle, placed inside the recuperator, in such a way that the secondary fluid circulates in parallel flows in one case and at counterflow in the other case, or vice versa.
Hamon. (N/A). Convection recuperators. Available: http://www.hamonusa.com/thermaltransfercorp/convectionrecuperators. Last accessed 25th Feb 2012.
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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

When the secondary fluid circulates, the logarithmic average temperature is higher, so that they will need less surface of exchange to get a certain thermal efficiency.

Figure 15: Radiation + Conduction recuperator15

These units are then smaller, if compared to other kind of recuperators, and reach the same thermal efficiency. Heat exchange is done by radiation in the double shell, whilst in the tubes bundle it is done by both radiation and convection, due to the arrangement of the tubes. Their main advantage is, because they have a high heat exchange capacity because of their double and inverted thermal system they reach high preheating temperatures even if the gases are not at very high temperatures. Two other advantages are they have a compact design and less space required compared to other recuperators. For all systems mentioned the specific choice and calculation of each recuperator succeed in getting the best energy recovery with a so important saving that, most of the times, the investment for the equipment is repaid in a short period.16

Kalfrisa. (N/A). Heat recovery (combined). Available: http://www.kalfrisa.com/default.aspx?info=00018B. Last accessed 26th Feb 2012 16 Kalfrisa. (N/A). Heat recovery (convection). Available: http://www.kalfrisa.com/default.aspx?info=00018A. Last accessed 26th Feb 2012
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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

References
ASHRAE Journal. (1998). Fresh air treatment in hot and humid climates. Available: http://dcproeng.com/article.php?article=12. Last accessed 24rd Feb 2012. Dr. Ivanka Boras, PhD (2012). Thermo and fluid dynamics. Zagreb: Faculty of Mechanical engineering and Naval Architecture. Slide 45. GEA. (N/A). Heat recuperators. Available: http://www.niroinc.com/html/drying/fdpdfs/Heat%20broch%203.pdf. Last accessed 23rd Feb 2012. Hamon. (N/A). Convection recuperators. Available: http://www.hamonusa.com/thermaltransfercorp/convectionrecuperato rs. Last accessed 25th Feb 2012. Hamon. (N/A). Radiation recuperators. Available: http://www.hamonusa.com/thermaltransfercorp/radiationrecuperators . Last accessed 25th Feb 2012. Kalfrisa. (N/A). Heat recovery (combined). Available: http://www.kalfrisa.com/default.aspx?info=00018B. Last accessed 26th Feb 2012 Recair. (N/A). heat exchanging capacitance >> heat capacity flow. Available: http://www.recair.nl/nl/info/warmtewisselende-oppervlak/. Last accessed 25rd Feb 2012. Technoterm Engineers. (N/A). Waste Heat Recovery System. Available: http://www.technothermengineers.com/wasteheatrecovery-system.html. Last accessed 23rd Feb 2012.

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Danilo Overend 142886(M) (Plant)

B.Eng (Hons) in Mech. Engineering

Vents. (N/A). Vents vue 100 P mini. Available: http://www.ventilationsystem.com/cat/508/. Last accessed 23rd Feb 2012 Wikipedia. (N/A). Recuperators. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recuperator. Last accessed 23rd Feb 2012. Wikipedia. (N/A). Run around coil. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_around_coil. Last accessed 24rd Feb 2012.

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