No description available.

The performance of membrane heat exchangers for HVAC total energy recovery systems was evaluated through experimentation and detailed system modelling. The operating principle of the membrane heat exchanger (enthalpy heat exchanger) is based on passing ambient hot and humid supply air over one side of a porous membrane heat exchanger surface and cold and less humid room exhaust air on the other side of the transfer surface. Due to the gradient in temperature and vapour pressure, both heat and moisture are transferred across the membrane surface causing a decrease in temperature and humidity of the supply air before it enters the evaporator unit of the conventional air conditioner. Hence both sensible and latent energy are recovered. In this study, both experimental and numerical investigations were undertaken and mathematical models were developed to predict the performance of the latent heat recovery heat exchangers for use with conventional air conditioning systems. The membrane moisture transfer resistance was determined by a laboratory-scale permeability measurements. It was found that the membrane heat exchanger performance is significantly influenced by the heat exchanger flow profile and shape, heat and moisture transfer material characteristics, air velocity and air moisture content. Improvement of membrane heat exchanger performance requires an in depth study on flow, temperature and moisture distribution in the heat exchanger flow paths. Thus, a commercial CFD package FLUENT is used to model the membrane heat exchanger. However, software of this type cannot model moisture diffusion through the porous transfer boundary. Therefore, two user defined function codes have been introduced to model the moisture transfer in latent energy heat exchangers. The annual energy consumption of an air conditioner coupled with a membrane heat exchanger is also studied and compared with a conventional air conditioning cycle using the HPRate software. Energy analysis shows that in hot and humid climates where the latent load is high, an air conditioning system coupled with a membrane heat exchanger consumes less energy than a conventional air conditioning system. The membrane heat exchanger dehumidifies the air before it enters the air conditioning system, resulting in a decrease in energy consumption in comparison with conventional air conditioning system.

Numerous of energy saving measures have been carried out in the Swedishhousing stock since the energy crisis in the 70’s. Additionally, there have been manylow-energy housing projects. However, so far few of these have been followed up aftersome years in operation concerning the energy use. That the energy use stays on a lowlevel is important from a sustainable perspective. The objectives of this study are find a system capable of reduce energy demandand minimize the environmental impact, make the minimum investment with themaximum results and maintain the actual infrastructure of the building. This report looks into the potential for saving energy and money with greywastewater. This potential depends on both the quantity available and whether thequality fits the requirement of the heating load. To recover heat from waste water inresidential buildings is hard to achieve in quality because of its low temperature range.Nevertheless, efforts to recycle this waste energy could result in significant energysavings. To implement this system the method used is to gather all the information aboutthis system, compare all the options available and calculate how much energy can besaved and how much time is the payback. The building studied is on Maskinisten Brynäs in Gävle with 23 apartments onfive different floors and a total living area of 400 m2 in each floor. In the case building used in this report the 60% of the total water used is hotwater. Installing a heat recovery system can be saved up to 23% of the energy used forheating water. This energy can be used for the preheating of the hot water. In this report is given two different solutions to save energy with this systems,the first one is to use a heat exchanger only in the drain of the showers saving up to7.045 MWh or using a centralized heat exchanger saving up to 23.16 MWh. After analysing the results the best option is to use the centralized heatexchanger system, it can be saved more energy and the total investment is lower thanusing a heat exchanger in each shower.

No description available.

The great need for cooling combined with Mexico's large availability of low enthalpy energy from non conventional energy resources such as geothermal energy, solar heat and waste heat from industrial processes, makes it very attractive to utilize these resources for cooling using heat driven absorption systems. The main purpose of the work described in this thesis is to obtain experimental and theoretical data on heat driven absorption cooling systems for the design of large scale systems. Thermodynamic design data have been theoretically derived for heat driven absorption heat pumps and heat transformers using the working pairs ammonia-water and ammonia-lithium nitrate for cooling, heating and simultaneous heating and cooling. The interaction between the operating parameters has been illustrated graphically. A computer model of the steady state thermodynamics of a heat driven ammonia-water system and an ammonia-lithium nitrate system has been developed. A comparison of both systems is made by assessing the effect of operating temperatures and heat exchanger effectiveness on the coefficient of performance for cooling and the heat transfer rates within the system. An experimental study on the performance of the absorber of an absorption cooling system operating on water-lithium bromide has been made. The experimental study of the adiabatic absorber was concerned with the determination of the effect of the evaporator heat load and the absorber reflux on the performance of the absorber. An experimental study of the operating characteristics of an experimental. absorption cooler using water-lithium bromide-lithium iodide and waterlithium bromide-zinc bromide as ternary systems has been made in order to achieve higher coefficients of performance and a lower risk of crystallization. Experimental studies with a small heat driven absorption cooling system operating on ammonia-water using a falling film generator were made. Low generator temperatures were achieved which will'enable the use of non focussing solar collectors as a heat source for the system. An ammonia-water absorption cooler operating on low enthalpy geothermal energy was installed and operated at two geothermal fields. The system was used to cool a small cold storage facility below freezing temperatures. The experimental and theoretical results on absorption cooling systems will provide a basis for the design of heat pump systems for industrial and commercial applications.

The performance of membrane heat exchangers for HVAC total energy recovery systems was evaluated through experimentation and detailed system modelling. The operating principle of the membrane heat exchanger (enthalpy heat exchanger) is based on passing ambient hot and humid supply air over one side of a porous membrane heat exchanger surface and cold and less humid room exhaust air on the other side of the transfer surface. Due to the gradient in temperature and vapour pressure, both heat and moisture are transferred across the membrane surface causing a decrease in temperature and humidity of the supply air before it enters the evaporator unit of the conventional air conditioner. Hence both sensible and latent energy are recovered. In this study, both experimental and numerical investigations were undertaken and mathematical models were developed to predict the performance of the latent heat recovery heat exchangers for use with conventional air conditioning systems. The membrane moisture transfer resistance was determined by a laboratory-scale permeability measurements. It was found that the membrane heat exchanger performance is significantly influenced by the heat exchanger flow profile and shape, heat and moisture transfer material characteristics, air velocity and air moisture content. Improvement of membrane heat exchanger performance requires an in depth study on flow, temperature and moisture distribution in the heat exchanger flow paths. Thus, a commercial CFD package FLUENT is used to model the membrane heat exchanger. However, software of this type cannot model moisture diffusion through the porous transfer boundary. Therefore, two user defined function codes have been introduced to model the moisture transfer in latent energy heat exchangers. The annual energy consumption of an air conditioner coupled with a membrane heat exchanger is also studied and compared with a conventional air conditioning cycle using the HPRate software. Energy analysis shows that in hot and humid climates where the latent load is high, an air conditioning system coupled with a membrane heat exchanger consumes less energy than a conventional air conditioning system. The membrane heat exchanger dehumidifies the air before it enters the air conditioning system, resulting in a decrease in energy consumption in comparison with conventional air conditioning system.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2005. / Adviser: Stanley Barnett. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

No description available.

Many reactions carried out in the chemical industry are exothermic. The heat liberated by the reaction is often transferred to another medium such as steam by heat exchange. This heat can then be used elsewhere or be used to generate power via a steam cycle. In this work the focus is on another method of reaction heat recovery. When an exothermic reaction is conducted at elevated pressures, a turbine expander can be placed directly behind the reactor. The hot, high-pressure product gas from the reactor can then be expanded in the turbine. During the expansion process the physical energy of the product gas is converted to kinetic energy (or electricity if the turbine is connected to a generator). Three chemical processes were studied to determine the feasibility of turbine integration into the processes. They are ethylene oxide production, phthalic anhydride production and the hydrodealkylation of alkylaromatic compounds. The chosen processes differ in terms of reactor operation, reactant conversion as well as the presence or absence of recycle loops. Simulation models were developed for the mentioned processes with the process simulator Aspen Plus®. Results from the simulations show that, without the turbine, the processes require power from external sources. They can however operate independently from external power sources when a turbine is present. Excess power can be exported or used for electricity generation. It is therefore feasible• to incorporate turbine expansion units in all the processes considered. The operating conditions of some unit operations have to be changed to accommodate the turbine expander. With the additional product namely power, a re-evaluation of all the operating conditions and tradeoffs in the process is necessary. Further investigation into the impact of turbine integration on the optimal operating conditions of the process is therefore recommended. Traditional definitions used to evaluate the performance of a process generating or consuming power, were found to be inadequate for use in processes where power and chemicals are produced together. New performance parameters are required for the evaluation of processes where power and chemicals are produced simultaneously. An exergy analysis was performed for one of the cases. This analysis method provides insight as to where thermodynamic losses occur in a process. The exergy analysis was useful to quantify the losses occurring in an isenthalpic expansion valve, and the savings obtained by replacing such a valve with an expansion turbine. / Dissertation (MEng (Chemical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Chemical Engineering / unrestricted