Working Principle of Air Compressor Waste Heat Recovery

Working principle of air compressor waste heat recovery.

Air compressor waste heat recovery machine is a kind of energy-saving equipment, which uses the high-temperature oil and gas heat energy of the compressor to make full use of heat energy through heat exchange. Due to the design structure and working principle of the air compressor waste heat recovery machine, its thermal insulation efficiency is between 0.65-0.85. For air compressors, the design oil supply temperature is usually 50-60°C, and the discharge temperature in actual operation is usually between 80-90°C. A higher discharge temperature will generate more lubricating oil in the gas phase, which increases the difficulty of oil-gas separation and reduces the service life of the lubricating oil.

In addition to the heat energy loss caused by mechanical friction, this is mainly due to the heat energy loss caused by the heat energy conversion of the air compressor waste heat recovery machine when compressing the gas. The adiabatic efficiency of the compressor is only 60-80%. Usually, in the actual operation of the air compressor, only 10% to 20% of the energy is turned into air potential energy (ie: turning the air in the atmosphere into high-pressure air), and most of the energy is consumed in various forms, most of which Turned into heat energy and discharged into the air. Most air compressor waste heat recovery machines are designed with a cooling system, so the heat generated during operation can be released in time to ensure the normal operation of the equipment.

Therefore, the waste heat utilization of air compressor waste heat recovery machine has received more and more attention. At present, although some manufacturers have developed some products that use the waste heat recovery of air compressors to utilize part of the heat energy, there are still many areas for improvement in the design of similar products. The practicality, economy, reliability, safety and efficiency of its operation need to be improved.

Working principle of air compressor waste heat recovery machine:

The air compressor waste heat recovery machine utilizes the heat energy of high-temperature oil and gas in the compression process, and transfers the heat energy to normal temperature hot water through heat exchange to realize the utilization of heat energy. The motor drives the screw machine to rotate, and the air is sucked into the screw compressor through the filter, compressed into high-pressure air, and mixed with circulating oil to form a high-pressure and high-temperature oil-gas mixture. Enter the oil and gas separator. After the oil-air mixture is separated into oil-gas and air, the compressed air in it is dissipated by the aftercooler and provided to the user; the circulating oil-gas is separated in the oil-gas separator, condensed into liquid, and then passes through the front cooler for heat dissipation and filter Filtration, then back to the compressor to complete the cycle.

The air compressor waste heat recovery machine can introduce high-temperature circulating oil (and high-temperature compressed gas) into the hot water unit. In addition, the heat generated during the operation of the air compressor waste heat recovery machine can be completely absorbed by the hot water heater, so that the compressor can be cooled.