A review of cryogenic power generation cycles with liquefied natural gas cold energy utilization

doi:10.1007/s11708-016-0397-7

Front. Energy

2016, Vol. 10

Issue (3) : 363-374 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-016-0397-7

REVIEW ARTICLE

A review of cryogenic power generation cycles with liquefied natural gas cold energy utilization

Feier XUE¹,Yu CHEN²,Yonglin JU^1,^*(

)

¹. Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
². College of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China

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Abstract

Liquefied natural gas (LNG), an increasingly widely applied clean fuel, releases a large number of cold energy in its regasification process. In the present paper, the existing power generation cycles utilizing LNG cold energy are introduced and summarized. The direction of cycle improvement can be divided into the key factors affecting basic power generation cycles and the structural enhancement of cycles utilizing LNG cold energy. The former includes the effects of LNG-side parameters, working fluids, and inlet and outlet thermodynamic parameters of equipment, while the latter is based on Rankine cycle, Brayton cycle, Kalina cycle and their compound cycles. In the present paper, the diversities of cryogenic power generation cycles utilizing LNG cold energy are discussed and analyzed. It is pointed out that further researches should focus on the selection and component matching of organic mixed working fluids and the combination of process simulation and experimental investigation, etc.

Keywords liquefied natural gas (LNG) cold energy power generation cycle Rankine cycle compound cycle

Corresponding Author(s): Yonglin JU

Just Accepted Date: 06 January 2016 Online First Date: 25 January 2016 Issue Date: 07 September 2016

Cite this article:

Feier XUE,Yu CHEN,Yonglin JU. A review of cryogenic power generation cycles with liquefied natural gas cold energy utilization[J]. Front. Energy, 2016, 10(3): 363-374.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/10.1007/s11708-016-0397-7
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/Y2016/V10/I3/363

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of direct expansion of LNG

Fig.2 Schematic diagram of Rankin cycle

Fig.3 Schematic diagram of Rankine cycle with direct expansion of LNG

Fig.4 Schematic diagram of the regenerative Rankine cycle with direct expansion of LNG [19]

Fig.5 Schematic diagram of CO2 regenerative Rankine cycle [20]

Fig.6 Schematic diagram of two-stage Rankine cycle of horizontal [21]

Fig.7 Schematic diagram of three-stage Rankine cycle of vertical [21]

Fig.8 Schematic diagram of three-stage cascade Rankine cycle [22]

Type enhanced	Researchers	Structural description	Working fluid	Heat source	Cycle characteristics
RC ^a)	Rao et al. [15]	RC	Ethane	Residual heat	When the temperature of heat source is below 260°C and LNG vaporizing pressure is greater than a certain value, auxiliary heat source should be applied for LNG regasification in case of insufficient heat transfer in the condenser.
RC ^a)	Wang et al. [14]	RC	Ammonia-water	Residual heat	Cycle uses HRVG^b) instead of general vaporizer to enhance turbine inlet temperature of ammonia steam.
The combined cycle	Miyazaki et al. [12]	RC+DEC ^c)	Ammonia-water	Exhaust gas	Temperature glide occurred in heat transfer process in the condenser between ammonia-water and LNG effectively reduces heat loss.
	Bai [4]	RC+DEC	Ethane	Residual heat	Working medium compressed by the pump exchanges heat with cold water and waste heat successively; cooling capacity obtained by cold water can be used for air conditioning system or compressor cooling, etc. Two-stage heat exchanging improves the turbine inlet temperature.
	Cao and Lu [23]	RC+DEC	Propane	Seawater	Working medium propane vaporized by seawater is shunt for two strands, one of which drives Rankine cycle and the other directly transfers heat to LNG out of the condenser; both strands get remixed through mixer and fed into working medium pump.
	Wang et al. [24]	Trans critical RC+DEC	CO₂	Geothermic heat	After absorbing the heat from geothermic water, CO₂ is fed into the turbine to export electrical power; LNG heated by CO₂ and the ambient, in gas state is also sent into the NG turbine to do work.
	Sun et al. [25]	RC+DEC	Propylene	Solar energy	Water heated by solar energy and assistant electric heater provides heat needed for the system. Propylene completes Rankine cycle as working fluid.
Installing regenerator	Sun et al. [26]	Regenerative RC+DEC	Mixture(methane: ethylene: propane mol%=0.3:0.4:0.3)	Residual heat	MSCHE (multi-stream cryogenic heat exchanger) is used to substitute conventional vaporizer in the cycle. In MSCHE, LNG through the first channel releases a large amount of cold; boosted mixed working medium sent into the second channel gains cold energy then completes heat transfer to refrigerant and external heat source respectively and expands to output power; high-temperature gas from medium turbine outlet goes into the third channel as a hot fluid to release heat. In addition, cold energy obtained by the refrigerant from mixed medium will be supplied to the air conditioning system.
Installing regenerator	Wang [5]	Regenerative RC+DEC	Mixture (propane and isobutane)	Exhaust gas	Working medium is vaporized by regenerator and exhaust gas heater in succession, which effectively realizes utilization of exhaust gas waste heat and reduces condenser loads.
Poly-stage RC	Yang [21]	3-stage RC of horizontal	Ethane/Ethane/propylene	Seawater	Considering three-stage recovery of LNG cold energy, LNG successively acts as cold fluid for left ethane RC, central ethane RC and right propylene RC. Three loops from left to right operate individually and in each loop two-stage expansion is achieved by working medium with intermediate heat absorption from seawater.
	Cao et al. [27]	2-stage RC of horizontal+DEC	CO₂/R245fa(CF₃CH₂CHF₂)	Residual heat	LNG serves as the heat sink for super-critical CO₂ Rankine cycle and R245fa Rankine cycle while residual heat provides requisite heat in the opposite order.
	Zhu et al. [28]	2-stage RC of vertical	Ethylene/propane	Exhaust gas	Lower ethylene Rankine cycle and upper propane Rankine cycle are linked through ethylene-propane heat exchanger where ethylene is vaporized and propane is condensed. Additionally, a strand of stream from propane turbine is elicited to heat LNG out of ethylene condenser and fed to propane pump in liquid state.
	Yang [21]	2- stage regenerative RC of vertical	Propylene / ethylene	Seawater	Ethylene, the working fluid of the upper Rankine cycle, is divided into three shares after expansion, one of which is directly used for LNG regasification, and two remaining shares supply needed heat for two-stage expansion in the lower propylene Rankine cycle, which makes up the systematic defect of insufficient work output.

Tab.1 A brief summary of main structures of enhanced Rankine cycles

Fig.9 Schematic diagram of Brayton cycle with direct expansion of LNG

Fig.10 Schematic diagram of the regenerative Brayton cycle with direct expansion of LNG [29]

Fig.11 Schematic diagram of improved Brayton cycle with direct expansion of LNG [30]

Fig.12 Schematic diagram of two-Stage Brayton cycle [34]

Tab.2 Summary of main structures of Kalina cycles

Fig.13 Schematic diagram of Kalina cycle with direct expansion of LNG [36]

Tab.3 Summary of main structures of compound cycles

Fig.14 Schematic diagram of integration of Rankine cycle and Brayton cycle [42]

Fig.15 Schematic diagram of integration of Kalina cycle and Rankine cycle [34]

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