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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Contaminated-vapor rotary-screw heat pump. Annual technical progress report, September 1984-August 1985

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5702974

In many industrial processes, large quantities of waste energy are often liberated in the form of low-pressure waste steam and low-grade waste heat, such as sensible heat of liquids or gases and latent heat of condensible gases. Economic recovery is often difficult due to such factors as low-temperature levels and contamination of the steam. In industrial processes that utilize steam directly, or as a mode of energy transport, waste low-grade energy can be efficiently recovered and upgraded in the form of high-pressure steam by means of a contaminated-steam heat-pump system. At Thermo Electron, a prototype gas-fired steam heat pump was developed. The system utilizes a dry screw compressor driven by a 330-hp natural-gas industrial engine. The system can recompress 2000 cfm of contaminated steam over a 4 to 1 pressure ratio, supplying high-pressure process steam at a fuel savings of over 50% when compared to producing steam in an 80% efficient boiler.

Research Organization:
Thermo Electron Corp., Waltham, MA (USA)
OSTI ID:
5702974
Report Number(s):
PB-86-174372/XAB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English