Brayton Solvent Recovery Heat Pump Technology Update

Abstract

The Brayton cycle technology was developed to reduce the temperature of gas streams containing solvents in order to condense and recover them. While the use of turbo compressor/expander machinery in conjunction with an energy recuperator is the basis for this heat pump process, many variations can be incorporated to optimize the total process for specific applications. Several process schemes will be discussed including both direct condensation and adsorption approaches. For situations where the solvent is at a relatively high concentration, such as tank filling operations, the direct condensation system is chosen. If the concentrations are low, which would be the case for an oven drying operation, activated carbon beds are used to concentrate the solvent. Many improvements on the first generation designs have been made in both process and the equipment components used for various commercial installations. Several specific applications have been identified as being well suited to take advantage of the features of this type of equipment.