Condensate heat recovery

Elmer Fudd

I am working with a customer that buys steam from the local utility. The utility measures the condensate, the condensate is cooled with city water(also provided from the same utility) and dumped down the drain. I am trying to recover some of this heat to help heat the portion of the building that uses hot water through a steam heat exchanger. The building uses 23,000 MLB(1000 pounds) of condensate with cost of over $150,000. The condensate is gravity return. Is there a product or design that can reuse this heat before dumping it? I know small systems have been done, but this would be on a much larger scale. I am sure it has been done and would look for help from anyone out there for a lead or comment.

Elmer Fudd

Condensate heat recovery

I am working with a customer that buys steam from the local utility. The utility measures the condensate, the condensate is cooled with city water(also provided from the same utility) and dumped down the drain. I am trying to recover some of this heat to heat the portion of the building that uses hot water through steam heat exchangers. The building uses 23,000 MLB(1000 pounds) of condensate with cost of over $150,000. The condensate is gravity return. Is there a product or design that can reuse this steam. I know small systems will work with this but I am not sure how such a large system would work. I am sure it has been done and would look to help from anyone out there for a lead or comment.

W Deacon

Condensate heat recovery

We manufacture a water heating system that can deal with that condensate issue. We flood the exchanger (small tubes, stainless, vertical design) and discharge the condensate at 200F maximum. The other bonus is we can use high pressure steam at the inlet. Smaller lines, no pressure reducing valve, no relief valve, and no condensate pump.
Look under "Innovative Concepts" at www.maxi-therm.net

Matt Clina

I put in one of these

many years back. This one was specifically for preheating boiler makeup water from the boiler blowdown, but I don't see why it couldn't be used for capturing heat from condensate as well.

http://www.maddenmfg.com/continou.htm

Unknown

or you could

put a big fat old thin tube radiator in the condensate line.

Maybe two of them.

Noel

Mike T., Swampeast MO

K.I.S.S.

Nice suggestion Noel!

W Deacon

Radiator

If the building load is 1000 lbs per hour of condensate, you'll need about 500 ft of finned tube in those radiators, and somewhere to put 50,000 BTU's per hour.

I would still focus on water cooling, just preheat the domestic incoming.

Mark Eatherton1

Deaw mistew fudd...

I thinks I no you. Have you considered snowmelt as a possible great place to throw all them unused, wasteful btus? If you do that, you will actualy generate a net water positive motion (melting all snow and liquidizing as opposed to allowing evaporation) and you will reduce the load on the incoming water source for not having to cool it. Double water savings bonus feature!

Now, if you tie this system into all of the cool evacuated tube solar systems, and charge the mass in the Fall, your additional needs, especialy if you discharge all cooling waste there during the summer, ends up with the possibility of ZERO fossil fuel requirements for maintaining an extremely safe walking surface and reduces interior wear and tear maintenance from lack of salt and other melting chemici'coci.

If you can think about it, it can be done. (Thanks Dan!)

It's being done in Denver Colorado. Next time you're at the West terminal for the 16th street Mall, and it's snowing outside, the pavement is wet, but not slick, and it dries quickly once the snowfall stops.

I read an article in the RPA about these European snowmelt systems for roads that uses solar gain in the summer to keep the road ways snow free during the winter. It's deep Earth burial. Its proven that you can get 80% of the heat out of an underground deep Earth storage system, With heat pumps, it's guaranteed. And it substantially increases the efficiency of the system as a whole.

Evacuated tube collector arrays at the top of the well field..."FREE 80% efficient heat storage systems"

The heat transfer is going to cost you some money, but the energy source can be FREE!!

I think I've got a candidate*8-) He wanted solar in the first place.

Now...Wew'd that wacky wabbit go...

ME