A. Bedell, G. Marinitsch
Solex Thermal Science Inc,
Canada
Keywords: process heat, energy recovery, bulk solids, calcination, kiln, furnace, flue gas, heat exchanger
Summary:
Many high temperature industrial processes (for example the calcination of alumina, roasting of metal ores, etc.) require temperatures in excess of 1000C and rely on fossil fuel-generated heat to operate. One pathway to significantly decrease the carbon intensity of these processes is to more efficiently capture and reuse high-grade energy within the process. Solex Thermal Science has been working with a number of partners to develop moving bed heat exchangers (MBHE) for particle-based thermal energy storage (TES) systems for use in concentrated solar power (CSP) facilities. These TES systems utilize particles to capture and store thermal energy at high temperatures (~800C) in order to improve the dispatchability of solar electricity. With slight modifications, the same MBHE technology can be applied to high temperature industrial processes involving bulk solid materials. The implementation of MBHEs in these processes allows for the recovery of significant amounts of energy from thermal processes operating at high temperatures (in excess of 1000C). This recovered energy can subsequently be used to offset fossil-based energy used within the process either through heating of combustion gasses or solids. This presentation will discuss current technical limits of MBHEs for high temperature energy recovery as well as examples of ongoing projects in this area.