Fei Wang, Neil Heffern | MEL Candidates | Dec 16, 2022
Mentors: Andrew Waston, CleanInnoGen Energy Solutions / Farid Safari, Oxford Institute for Energy
Abstract
The main purpose of this capstone project is to perform a technical feasibility study of waste heat utilization and heat upgrading to support thermochemical Cu-Cl hydrogen gas production technology for use in cement manufacturing industries. Cement manufacturing is energy intensive, resulting in high GHG emissions. The premise behind hydrogen gas production in this industry is to capitalize on waste heat for a product with the potential to lower GHG emissions and harmful products of combustion. The overall project is divided into three parts: 1) Detailing the Cu-Cl thermochemical and cement processes; 2) heat upgrade technologies applied to waste heat streams to output temperatures above 550DegC; 3) overall heat upgrade and heat exchange system integration into cement manufacturing plants.
The actual process data and parameters of cement production and Cu-Cl thermochemical cycles are used in this project where possible, while some data has been obtained from technical research literature. Thermodynamics, heat transfer, and systems modelling are the primary scientific methods used in this capstone project, covering vapor compression cycles, chemical reactions, electrochemical reactions, and heat exchangers. AspenPlus is also used to simulate processes.