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Prediction of maximum recoverable mechanical energy via work integration: A thermodynamic modeling and analysis approach
Author(s) -
AminiRankouhi Aida,
Huang Yinlun
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.15813
Subject(s) - work (physics) , mechanical energy , energy recovery , energy (signal processing) , thermal energy , heat exchanger , process integration , process (computing) , gas compressor , thermal , mechanical engineering , process engineering , mode (computer interface) , mechanical system , chemical energy , mechanical design , computer science , engineering , thermodynamics , mathematics , physics , power (physics) , statistics , operating system
Thermal energy and mechanical energy are two common forms of energy consumed significantly in the process industries. While thermal energy can be effectively recovered using matured heat integration technologies, recovery of mechanical energy through work integration has not been fully explored. It is shown that work integration can be achieved through synthesizing work exchange networks (WENs), where work exchangers are operated in a batch mode, and compressors and expanders are operated in a continuous mode; this renders network synthesis a very sophisticated design task. It is greatly beneficial if the maximum amount of mechanical energy recoverable by a WEN can be determined prior to network design. In this article, we introduce a thermodynamic modeling and analysis method to identify accurately the maximum amount of recoverable mechanical energy of any process system of interest. The method is rigorous and general for target setting of mechanical energy recovery prior to WEN synthesis. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 2017