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This invention is a heat exchanging device for a reactor to enable simultaneous heat and mass transfer in various chemical processes such as distillation, absorption, and liquid extraction. This innovation integrates with existing structured packing within columns, enhancing their capabilities by adding/removing heat from working fluids. This is especially relevant for carbon dioxide capture from power plants. Additive manufacturing facilitates diverse designs, ensuring independent flow of heat-transfer fluid to exchange heat with working fluids, vital for efficient mass transfer. This device, distinct from conventional structured packing, optimizes processes in the chemical, petroleum, and pharmaceutical industries, offering versatile solutions for enhanced performance.
Description
This multifunctional structured packing device revolutionizes chemical processes like distillation, absorption, and liquid extraction, along with multiphase reactors, by enabling simultaneous heat and mass transfer. Seamlessly integrated into existing packed columns, it strategically adds or extracts heat from working fluids. Serving as both a heat exchange and mass transfer enhancer, it parallels simple structured packing in mass transfer efficiency. Widely applicable across chemical, petroleum, and pharmaceutical industries, it particularly aids carbon dioxide capture in power plants through absorption. It harmonizes with conventional packing materials rather than competing with them. Utilizing additive manufacturing, diverse geometries accommodate independent flow of heat/transfer fluid, crucial for efficient mass transfer. Its versatility and applicability offer significant benefits in various industries, optimizing processes and enhancing efficiency. This innovation not only addresses current industrial needs but also provides a platform for continued advancement in chemical engineering.
Benefits
- Independent flow of heat-transfer fluid with respect to working fluids
- Works in harmony, not in competition, with conventional structured packing
- Promotes heat exchange between working fluids and heat-transfer fluid, in addition to mass transfer between the working fluids
- Less costly, more efficient for industrial processes
- Allows same carbon dioxide capture rate, but with smaller, smarter columns
- Reduces capital costs of carbon capture plants
Applications and Industries
- Carbon dioxide capture
- Power Plants
- Cement
- Iron
- Chemical
- Petroleum
- Pharmaceutical
- Any industry requiring distillation/absorption
Contact
To learn more about this technology, email partnerships@ornl.gov or call 865-574-1051.
