The use of heat transformers for the low-temperature secondary energy resources recovery in non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises

Abstract

The paper discusses the concept of developing schemes for the utilization of low potential secondary energy resources waste heat in heat transformers (HT). There ara several examples of using HT in non-ferrous metallurgy plants in Russia and Kazakhstan: the production of nickel, zinc and ferroalloys. In the case of nickel production, two schemes are proposed for consideration: for summer and winter modes. The main object of study is a nickel production scheme using a lithium bromide absorption chiller (AbCh) in the summer. The nickel production process needs cold. In the proposed scheme, the main source of utilized low-grade waste heat for AbCh is recycled water. The basic parameters were calculated under various extreme conditions, the energy effect of the circuit modernization was estimated, and equipment was selected. Another example of the HT use is the use of a heat pump unit (HPU) in the production of zinc and ferroalloys. HPU is designed to heat feed water before chemical water treatment and at the same time to "cool down" the circulating water, which is then used for electrolysis, replacing purchased artesian water.