Vapor coolers. Steam contains a significant amount of heat and chemicals. purified water, which is released into the atmosphere as industrial waste. It is possible to return this heat and water to the thermal circuit with the help of a vapor cooler.
The vapor-gas mixture (flash) leaving the deaeration column or tank must flow into the vapor cooler, which will condense the steam and return the resulting heat and condensate to the thermal circuit, and the resulting thermal energy here can be immediately used to operate the deaerator. In a modern thermal scheme, a vapor cooler is an indispensable element. When used with a deaerator, it is installed either individually on one deaerator or on several deaerators (group installation). However, for vacuum deaerators and atmospheric deaerators, only individual installation is provided.
In steam condensate circuits, during the operation of a deaerator, tank or other similar equipment, a by-product is released - a vapor-gas mixture or vapor. The vapor contains a significant amount of heat and chemical. purified water, which, unfortunately, goes into the atmosphere as production waste. It is possible to return this heat and water to the thermal circuit using a vapor cooler, and this opportunity must be used.
The efficiency of the vapor cooler in a deaeration plant is very high. The payback of its installation does not exceed 1-1.5 years, and if natural gas is used as fuel, it can pay off in 6-9 months.
Artesia has developed, tested and manufactures efficient vapor coolers.
When installing a VC1 vapor cooler on a deaeration column with a capacity of 10 t/h in a natural gas boiler house, natural gas savings will be approximately at least UAH 150,000. per year, based on the value of the standard flow rate of steam per ton of deaerated water, and in the case of using sunflower husks as fuel, it will reach UAH 50,000 per year. At the same time, as practice shows, the actual flow rate of steam from atmospheric deaeration plants is several times higher than that indicated in the regulatory documents. Therefore, the real savings will be much higher.
VC vapor coolers are designed in accordance with RTM 108.030.21-78 “Calculation and design of thermal deaerators”, Deaerator White Paper for use with Industrial/Commercial and Institutional Boilers (American Boiler Manufacturers Association, 2011) and NACE Standard RP0590-96 “Recommended Practice for Prevention, Detection, and Correction of Deaerator Cracking” and meet the latest technical requirements.
Table 1 shows the characteristics of steam coolers manufactured by Artezia. The adopted improvements of the VC vapor coolers make it possible to provide a high efficiency index at the level of 99.9% (the degree of steam recovery from the vapor), and the adopted design solutions ensure high durability and maintainability.
Stainless steel is used as the material for heat exchange tubes in VC vapor coolers. At the request of the Customer, it is possible to use MNZh5-1 alloy or brass, however, it should be remembered that if these materials are used in the steam turbine cycle, there is a high risk of copper deposition on the steam turbine blades.