Design, Analysis & manufacturing of Thermal power fluctuations damping unit for waste heat recovery systems.
Waste heat is the energy that is not utilized and lost in the environment. It can be recovered through various heat recovery technologies. The main source of waste heat is hot combustion gases from different sources like exhaust from internal combustion engines, thermal power plants, cem
2025-06-28 16:31:58 - Adil Khan
Design, Analysis & manufacturing of Thermal power fluctuations damping unit for waste heat recovery systems.
Project Area of Specialization Mechanical EngineeringProject SummaryWaste heat is the energy that is not utilized and lost in the environment. It can be recovered through various heat recovery technologies. The main source of waste heat is hot combustion gases from different sources like exhaust from internal combustion engines, thermal power plants, cement plants etc. A waste heat recovery system is a system that recovers energy through a heat exchanger that transfers heat from process outputs at high temperature to another part of the process for some useful purpose which usually increased the thermal efficiency of the system. This not only improves the system efficiency but also reduces environmental pollution. One of the methods to recover energy is a thermal energy storage system (TES). Mainly there are two types of TES one is to store sensible heat and the other is to store latent heat. The major challenge in storing energy is the thermal power fluctuations in the waste heat. These fluctuations negatively affect the operation and economic feasibility of energy recovery power systems.
In this project, phase change material (PCM) acts as a fluctuation damping unit and as a heat transfer medium. Different configurations of tubes have been developed for the design of the shell and tube heat exchanger and the best has been simulated for better melting time and energy storage. This project used an acrylic shell of diameter 134mm and thickness of 10mm and 3 aluminum tubes of diameter 25mm at an angle of 60? from each other to achieve the optimal melting time. The effect of the thermal heat storage system was studied under a fluctuating temperature source and the effect of changing the phase and amplitude is studied on the melting rate of PCM.
Project ObjectivesThis project has a vast field of application starting from small industries to larger industries. Every industry has the waste heat which can be utilized for the useful purpose by storing it appropriately. The waste heat released from various sources written below has applications of waste heat recovery.
- It can be used for recovering exhaust heat from IC engines by storing it in a PCM based storage system as proposed in this project.
- Thermal heat recovery from Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC).
- In thermal power plants to recover waste heat running on coal, furnace oil, natural gas, Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) or any other fuel.
- To recover waste heat from steel billet furnace and can be used for reheating
- It can be used in the cement industry for clinker to store waste heat.
The design process for this project required selecting the type of heat exchanger for the desired purpose. This shell and tube heat exchanger was simulated with different types of tube configurations to minimize the melting time of PCM. After performing initial simulations, a shell and tube heat exchange with three tubes at an angle of 1200 from each other having a diameter of 25mm. The design was first simulated with constant temperature and then with the fluctuated input having sinusoidal nature with changing amplitude and phase to study the effect of these changes on the melting rate and storage capacity of the PCM.
Benefits of the Project- It can be used for recovering exhaust heat from IC engines by storing it in a PCM based storage system as proposed in this project.
- Thermal heat recovery from Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC).
- In thermal power plants to recover waste heat running on coal, furnace oil, natural gas, Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) or any other fuel.
- To recover waste heat from steel billet furnace and can be used for reheating
- It can be used in the cement industry for clinker to store waste heat.
The prototype consists of three reservoirs i.e., two hot and one cold reservoir. Two hot reservoirs are used to introduce fluctuations in the prototype. To start the control valves coming from the hot reservoirs are opened and closed using the code. The water in the hot reservoir is heated using an electric heater installed in the reservoir. As the desired temperature is achieved i.e. (80C and 90C) for each reservoir the heater is turned off. Thirty thermocouples are fixed around the radial length of the shell to collect the temperature of PCM at each point. The hot reservoir keeps flowing water until all the PCM is melted and all latent heat is stored in the PCM. Then the valve of the cold reservoir is wide opened and flow through the tubes and absorbs the heat from the PCM. The thermocouples will now also collect data for solidification in the same way they did for melting of PCM. The temperature of the cold water will become constant and hence the objective is achieved. The thermocouples are also attached at the inlet and outlet to ensure there is minimal or negligible heat along the length of the shell as the length was totally ignored in the simulations
Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry PetroleumOther IndustriesCore Technology Shared EconomyOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Affordable and Clean Energy, Industry, Innovation and InfrastructureRequired Resources| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 61000 | |||
| Aluminum Tubes | Equipment | 3 | 1000 | 3000 |
| Acrylic Shell | Equipment | 1 | 6000 | 6000 |
| Thermocouples | Equipment | 40 | 450 | 18000 |
| PVC Pipes | Equipment | 4 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Pump | Equipment | 1 | 4000 | 4000 |
| PCM (Phase Change Material) | Equipment | 1 | 20000 | 20000 |
| Water Tanks | Equipment | 3 | 2000 | 6000 |