Heat Recorery S3'stem.s Vol. 2. No. 3. pp. 257-271.

1982

Printed in Great Britain.

0198-7593/82/030257-15503.00/0 1982 Pergamon Press Lid

LJUNGSTROM WASTE

HEAT HEAT

EXCHANGERS RECOVERY*

FOR

I. WARREN
Carter Howden Limited. Argyle Street, Birmingham B7 5TJ, U.K. Abstract--The Ljungstrom rotary air preheater is a highly efficient unit for air-air heat recovery. The history of the unit, principal design features of systems made by James Howden and Carter Howden, and reliability, are discussed. A number of case studies are presented and comments made on recent developments.

INTRODUCTION

THE SOARINGcost of energy over the past few years has caused not only governments but manufacturing and process industry as a whole to re-examine its usage. As a result, many companies have been monitoring their energy use and investigating the economies of heat recovery systems. Consequently, a lot of attention has been given to the rotary regenerative air preheater and other types of heat exchangers. It is the purpose of this paper to show that far from being a new device, the rotary regenerative air preheater has been developed over a period of time that exceeds half a century. The design features and operating characteristics will also be described.
HISTORY

Briefly, the Ljungstrom Rotary Air Preheater is a rotating drum with a matrix that transfers heat from hot waste gases to cooler air which is flowing parallel, but in the opposite direction, as shown in Fig. 1. It was 59 years ago that the idea of a rotary regenerative air preheater was born. Frederick Ljungstrom, the Swedish Engineer who was honoured by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 1949, invented and patented the design in 1922. Since then the development of this type of preheater has been continuous, covering the principles of thermodynamics, aerodynamics and structural engineering. The story of this development work is a good example of how a basically simple idea can be developed and refined by co-ordinated efforts in countries around the world into the carefully engineered product that it is today. The idea of using a slowly rotating drum containing a tightly packed heating surface matrix to transfer heat between two gases is still the basis of present day designs, although the range of applications is now much greater than the original concept of boilers, covering industrial furnaces, boilers and others that will be illustrated later. The first preheaters to be constructed were built and tested in Sweden. One of these units was fitted to the front of an engine of the Swedish State Railway. In 1924, James Howden & Co. took out the first foreign licence to manufacture and sell rotary air preheaters in all countries belonging to what was then the British Empire. Other licences were subsequently granted and today research and development on the rotary preheater is carried out by the original licencees in the U.K., U.S.A., Germany and Japan, in addition to the continuing development work in Sweden. These developments cover all aspects of preheater design and operation and include heat transfer and pressure drop studies, sealing system developments, model flow tests and structural improvements.
* Paper first presented at Seminar: Heat Recovery in Process Applications, 20-21 October, 1981, London. 257

258

1.

WARREN

A R C D -

R o t o r nous=no Rotor (pocked w=tn heo~ Tronsfer elements) Rotor ortve unit Access door to heot trons~er etemen~s

Fig. 1. Howden packaged horizontal rotary regenerative air heater~

When first introduced, the rotary preheater was looked upon as an integral part of a boiler forced-draught system and the preheater and fans were built together as a package unit. using the same drive mechanism. A survivor of this design operated at Bellefield Sanatorium in Lanarkshire as recently as 1972. However. about 1930 it was obvious that separate development of fans and preheaters was necessary and this integral design was superceded. Since then, development has largely been influenced by developments in boiler design and size since in the past this is where the rotary preheater had found its widest application (although as will be shown later, this "mix' has been changing over the last few years into more diverse applicationsl. The boiler market has led t o dramatic increases and decreases in preheater size and weight. In 1945 a 30 MW boiler would probably have been supplied with two rotary a~r preheaters, each having an approximate rotor diameter of 3.7 m and containing about 12 t of heating surface. For a modern 660 MW boiler, the two preheaters installed have 15 m diameter rotors, each containing 450 t of heating surface. At the other end of the range is the Package Preheater, this design having been specially developed for use on the smaller industrial furnaces, shell boilers, and the petrochemical and other process industries. Simplicity has been designed into the housing, the drive system and sealing arrangements, whilst the heating surface matrix is the same proven designs as supplied on the larger preheaters. Rotor diameters can be as small as 350 mm. and the heating surface weigh as little as 300 kg. It can be seen that the development of the preheater which started with the small "Bellefield" design, has been extended upwards to 700 t units and also redeveioped into the smaller sizes.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES

The rotary air preheater operates on the regenerative principle. That is to say that in contrast with the recuperative process, heat is transferred not by passing through tube or plate walls, but is simply absorbed and released from the same surfaces as the entire mass of heat exchanger elements is rotated in a continuous cycle through alternate streams of flue gas and air. One of the characteristics of regenerative heat transfer which does not occur in recuperators is the introduction of time as a parameter i.e. the time period or 'blow period' during which the matrix is exposed to the heating and cooling fluids. Theoretical solutions taking account of the blow period require the solving of cumbersome partial differential equations. Fortunately for the production of practical designs on a day-to-day basis, a number of simplifying but justifiable assumptions were introduced very early on in the theory and these make it manageable and directly applicable to heat exchanger design. Although many solutions have been proposed for regenerative heat transfer situations, reference will be restricted to those techniques actually used in commercial preheater design and development.

Ljungstrom heat exchangers for waste heat recovery

259

The design and size determination of regenerative heat exchangers has been greatly simplified by a mathematical analysis originally proposed by Nusseit in 1927 in which the blow period is considered so short that the heat capacity of the gas passed per period is negligible in comparison with the heat capacity of the heating surface matrix. Under these conditions the temperature of the two gases and the matrix are independent of time and depend only on the point at which they are measured. In practical terms this means that a rotary regenerator can be designed using simple recuperator theory providing that the rotational speed selected is not so low that efficiency losses due to the 'regenerator effect' are experienced. A check using a regenerator computer analysis on the rotational speed effect has to be done as a final step in the design process, but this is a simple procedure. In a number of cases, particularly where corrosive flue gases are being handled, it is also necessary to use a regenerator analysis technique to determine the metal temperatures throughout the entire matrix. This data is frequently used in deciding the matrix material since special resisting materials may be required at the cold end of the heat exchanger or special heat resisting ones at the hot end. Although regenerative heat transfer theory is, as mentioned, complex, it does have some useful advantages. Firstly it provides the possibility of operating with small hydraulic diameters, which when taken with highly directive and convoluted heated surfaces, induces a useful and effective combination of high turbulence and therefore good heat transfer performance and low friction and pressure drops. Secondly it results in uniformly higher metal temperatures than in the recuperative process and, bearing in mind acid dewpoint considerations, it thus permits continuous operation at lower flue gas exit temperatures and therefore an enhanced performance in heat recovery terms.

DESIGN FEATURES

The necessary regenerative heating surface is provided in a compact matrix of mild steel or Corten sheets, notched and undulated to give the high degree of turbulence and heat transfer already referred to. These are contained within a rotating drum or rotor and the construction is so arranged as to direct flue gases through one side of the rotor and air for combustion through the other side. As the rotor revolves slowly, the elements absorb heat as they pass through the gas side of the preheater and subsequently give up their heat to the air as they pass through the air side. Thus there is a continuous cycle of heat transfer from the gas to the air. Samples of heating surface elements are shown in Fig. 2.

SEALING

The small running clearances between the rotor and the housing result in some leakage of air into the gas side. Sealing strips are fitted to the rotor and are adjusted so that they are just clear of the stationary sealing plates when the air preheater is at working temperature. Radial seals are fitted at both ends of the rotor to control direct leakage of air to the gas side. Circumferential seals are also fitted round the rotor periphery and at the hub at both hot and cold ends. These run against annular flanges fixed to the housing and plates. Finally, to deal with leakage past the circumferential seals, axial seals are fitted to prevent air to gas. leakage taking place within the annular space between the rotor and rotor housing. Rotor seals are subject to wear and have to be replaced from time to time. The arrangement of these seals is shown in Fig. 3. The system on larger preheaters can be more sophisticated, as shown later. The preheater can be arranged for either horizontal or vertical air and gas flows to suit the requirements of any particular installation.

260

1. WARREN

Fig. 2. Heating surface elements.

RodiQL circum~'erentiat ~

L..-

~ ~

Radial circum~e~en~ciat

ondoxioLseots

~TII--AxiaL

seal

ta~e

-II-

andoxioL seals

_t_ J-Circum~eren'tiat __/~ I

"_I_ --TA x i a t seal I lJJ

""

- ~

~I i ~ o lIlll
. i i -i

s e a l
Fixed

Free

Radio L Seal

A x i a l seal / T o l e r a n c e + 0.4

Fig. 3. Disposmo~ of rotor seals.

Ljungstrom heat exchangers for waste heat recovery CORROSION

261

In certain installations, particularly on furnaces firing sulphur-bearing fuels and operating with sizable excess air quantities, the low gas leaving temperatures necessary to achieve high efficiencies, may dip down to the acid dewpoint thus forming a liquid film of sulphuric acid. Hence the cold end of the preheater heating surface may be subject to corrosion. The obvious remedy is to raise the metal temperature above the acid dew point and accept the resultant reduction in heat recovery. Sometimes it is more economical however, to maintain reasonably low gas outlet temperatures and to provide a replaceable tier of heating surface elements at the cold end of the heater. These cold end elements may be withdrawn radially and are usually manufactured in Corten--a copperbearing corrosion-resistant mild steel. For excessively corrosive conditions, however, a vitreous-enamelled mild steel is sometimes used. The heating surface is kept clear of chokage by steam or compressed-air soot blowers fitted in the gas inlet and outlet duct connections.

DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED HEATING SURFACES

Since the advantages enjoyed by the rotary regenerator design over other designs depends to a large extent on the effectiveness of the heat transfer surface there is considerable incentive on the part of manufacturers to develop and test improved shapes of heating surface. During the early period of development the shape of the heating surface elements was determined from laboratory tests using fairly crude equipment, and element testing techniques have therefore been the subject of considerable improvement and refinement in recent years. Laboratory heat transfer test techniques are now available which give highly reliable and reproducible results. Two test methods are available, the single-blow transient method and the cyclic method. In the transient method, atmospheric air is blown through the test pack of elements until the pack and air are at uniform temperature. The temperature of the air at inlet to the pack is then instantaneously increased by about 10C by switching on the gauze electric heater. The temperatures at inlet and outlet of the pack are measured by resistance thermometers and recorded until the outlet temperature approaches the inlet temperature. The test is repeated for various flow rates over the normal working range of the
Inlet lemperoture

temperat'ure

Time

Fig. 4. Experimental heating curve from transient test rig.

262

I, WARREN

7'
Inter / \ / Time

Fig. 5. Temperature traces from cyclic test rig.

regenerator. The analysis of the temperature curves obtained gives the thermal performance of the test elements. See Fig. 4. In the cyclic method the inlet air temperature to the test pack is made to vary sinusoidally and the pack is allowed to settle down until the outlet temperature attains a steady sinusoidal pattern. The air temperature decays exponentially as it passes through the pack and the ratio of inlet and outlet amplitudes is a measure of the heat transfer performance of the elements. There is also a phase shift on the outlet sine wave compared with the inlet and theoretically this shift can also be used as a measure of performance although in practice an acceptable accuracy is diffaeult to achieve. With this cyclic method use is also made of the computer to solve the equations involved in analysis of the test results. See Fig. 5. In association with these heat transfer tests, of course, pressure drop tests are carried out in separate test rigs. An optimum heating surface shape for a specific application can only be determined by comparing the pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics of all elements tested. See Fig. 6. The outcome of this work has been to produce a group of optimum heating surface shapes, each shape being suitable for a particular fuel or application. Figure 7 shows

1
Pressure drop rig
" 1"~

@
Fan
9

Hea~ ~rons~er rig

'J

14

Pressure drop rig

I Damper 2 Etemen~ tes pack 3 6" Square duct 40ri+ice 5 6"Did.duct

7 Inle~ resistance Thermometer 8 0 u c t e ~ resis'once themometer 9 12" Wide x 6'!deep due'is I0 Sue'don (thermal damper) I I 5"Did.duc't 12 24' Wide x 6 deep duc

Fig, 6. Air preheater element test rigs,

Ljungstrom heat exchangers for waste heat recovery

263

Corrugated undulated

Double undulated

FLat notched crossed

Fig. 7. Standard Howden heating surface element.

three such shapes, the corrugated undulated (CU) for applications where heavy fouling is anticipated, the double undulated (DU) for applications where only moderate fouling is anticipated and flat notched crossed (FNC) for clean conditions. The dimensions of each of these shapes have been optimised in a series of laboratory tests as described above. Other shapes which have been tested include crossed rods, wire mesh, ceramic and vitreous-enamelled sheet.

AERODYNAMIC TESTING

Most heat exchanger design methods assume constant and evenly distributed inlet conditions. In the case of gas-gas heat exchangers this is not always achieved in practice and it is important to bear this in mind when designs are being developed. One of the advantages of the rotary preheater is that during rotation all the heating surface at any radius in the rotor experiences the same flow and temperature conditions. This absence of any 'cold corner', as occurs in recuperators, is an important factor in minimising corrosion and results in increased heating surface life. The effect of variations in inlet conditions in the radial direction has been checked theoretically by assuming that the regenerator is in fact a series of small concentric regenerators each experiencing different inlet conditions. It has been found from this study that even quite wide variations in inlet conditions have no marked effect on thermal performance. It is important however, from the point of view of pressure losses, to check that the design of the inlet and outlet duct connections and flow passages inside the preheater are
HR.S. 2 3--("

264

I. WARREN

conducive to good flow distribution. This is most readily done by model flow testing using large-scale three-dimensional models of the preheater and associated ducting. The model preheater rotors used in these tests are designed and tested in a series of preliminary tests to ensure that the pressure drop--velocity head relationship corresponds to that of the full size preheater. This is important and ensures that true similarity exists between the model and the preheater.
RELIABILITY

In supplying furnace equipment to the hydrocarbon processing industries in particular, reliability in performance is probably the most important operational requirement that has to be satisfied. For this reason the rotary preheater has to be designed for continuous operation under varying load conditions, with only routine on-stream maintenance. All parts subject to wear and tear have therefore to be readily accessible and easily replaced, if necessary, during scheduled shutdown. The preheater parts which require routine maintenance are as follows: (a) Heating surface elements These elements, the shape of which has already been described, are packed in segmented baskets for easy handling. The hot-end elements can be withdrawn axially from the rotor but it should not be necessary to renew these elements more than once or twice in the life of the plant. If thinning of the cold-end elements occurs, the life of these elements can be extended by reversing them in the rotor after say two or three years operation. Corrosion of the heating surface does not affect the availability of the preheater since all inspections and removals can be carried out during scheduled plant overhaul periods. Package units generally have just one tier of elements. (b) Rotor seals All these seals are bolted to the rotor, are easily adjusted or replaced and only require occasional adjustment or replacement during scheduled overhaul periods. (c) Rotor drive unit The motor and reduction gear are sized for a minimum life of 25 years to ensure complete reliability. These units only require regular greasing and oil changes during operation. (d) Support bearings These are SKF roller bearings or equivalent and are also designed for a life of 25 years on the basis of 8000 operating hours/year. Conservative temperature factors are included in the design. Bearing failure on a rotary preheater is virtually unknown. The need to replace a bearing is therefore unlikely to arise. However. the bearings are readily accessible for inspection, oil checks etc. Probably the most convincing proof of reliability of this design of preheater is the fact that many large oil tankers are now in operation with only one boiler and one rotary air preheater installed. The operating experience of one oil company, which examined the records of ten of their tankers over a period of three years, has been reported in a paper to the American Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers[l]. The author of this paper states that "The mean time to failure (of rotary air preheaters) is then 56 years and the availability based on 340 days per year operation is 0.99992 which is quite remarkable".
EXAMPLES

It can be mathematically proved that, where the heat is being extracted from flue gases from a direct firing process, the greatest savings are generally to be made if this heat is

Ljungstrom heat exchangers for waste heat recovery

Limestone ~eed Lime elevator

265

~ preheoter

SIorH~

Cooler

Burners

'II I L.',,e
discharge

Fig. 8. Diagram of calcimatic kiln.

used as preheated combustion air. This fact was first referred to by Schack in a paper back in 1931/32. It arises simply because heat fed back into the system via combustion air carries with it no heat rejection of hot flue gases whereas normally such waste heat has to be allowed for in the fuel saving calculation. This assumes the same fuel price throughout the calculation and today there could be exceptions to this rule, for example if the recovered heat is saving the burning of butane elsewhere. The second advantage to putting heat back into the boiler or furnace is that of availability, i.e. it is always available when you want it. (1) Heat wheel application in lime production Production of lime is often carried out in vertical-shaft kilns where the efficiency can reach 60-70%. In the calcimatic type kiln shown in Fig. 8, the operating efficiency of some 35% can be increased to something like the shaft kiln level through the introduction of air preheat. The thermal decomposition of limestone in the calcimatic kiln takes place at about 1000C. thus CaCOa ~ CaO + C02 For the calcimatic kiln this process takes place on a slowly rotating disc bed.
~Heol"

wheel
.

Cooler air

Ro'ta't ing

hearth

Lime ~oduct (cooled)

CoO.

Fig. 9. Lime kiln.

266

I.V~"ARREN

To stock

LJ

oo'c

9~o'c

Me?o( processing furnace

Fig. 10. Heal recovery system for a billet reheating furnace

The hot gases from the kiln are used to preheat the crude limestone by direct contact on a Iouvred type exchanger such that the gases then leave at about 450:C. Lime itself leaves the kiln at about 900C and is cooled by blasting air over it in the lime cooler. This cooling air. now lime-dust laden is then mixed tsee Fig. 8) with the kiln exhaust gases to yield (via a shell and tube heat exchangen combustion air preheated to about 450C. Plugging of the shell and tube heat exchanger is common due to the chemical reaction taking place between the two gases thus CaO + SO3--" CaSO4 This problem can be eliminated by separaung the two heat source streams as shown in Fig. 9. It may be seen there that the combustion air is preheated in two stages: (a) by the kiln flue gases through the introduction of a heat wheel: (b) by the cooler exhaust air. (2) Billet preheating furnace Figure 10 shows the flow diagram resulting from the installauon of a heat wheel within the chimney combustion air system of a billet reheating furnace. This furnace is an 8 t/h. unit and the flue gases leaving the furnace at 900C are diluted with entrained air and then passed through a heat wheel to raise the combustion azr temperature to 454C. Even allowing for the fact that the full flue gas temperature is not being handled, the fuel savings are estimated at 26,. Without the application of air preheat the oil consumption is 128 gallons/h (582 l/h). so there is scope for a large financial saving. (3) Plant boiler application Figure 11 shows a scheme whereby a combustion air preheater is fitted to three small oil-fired industrial plant boilers, exhausting through a common flue. In this example, the ..g

EO.F a n ' S -

.V
Fig. 11. Plant boiler house application.

Ljungstrom heat exchangers for waste heat recovery Table 1 Efficiency Fuel saving

267

Option
Boiler only Bolier and economiser Boiler and air heater Boiler, economiser and Air heater

(%) (G.C.V.I
78 83 85 87

(%)
0 6.0 8.2 10.3

boilers themselves are each rated at 220001b/h (9980kg/h) evaporation and provide process steam continually. The combined flue gas flow entering the preheater is 700001b/h (31750 kg/h). Despite the need to limit the reduction of flue gas in the air heater due to the sulphur that is present in the fuel oil the fuel savings on this scheme would amount to 6.3%. Normally for an oil-fired boiler expected savings would be in the range of 4-6%. On natural gas and coal fired boilers it is possible to use an air heater or economiser, or both. D. C. Gunn [2] gives the figures given in Table 1. He points out that in this particular case: 'All these savings seem to be worthwhile, provided the cost of the air heater and economiser is not excessive. If regarded as alternatives, the air preheater seems to be the more attractive alternative giving a greater saving. It should also be less costly, since is does not operate at the pressure of the boiler.' David Gunn concludes that 'However, all cases must be considered in the light of the actual operating conditions, when the order could well be reversed'. (4) Glass melting furnace The glass industry has long recovered heat from the flue gases and used it to preheat the combustion air. However, because of the high temperatures involved, the final flue gas temperature leaving the checkerwork regenerator is still 600-700C. Figure 12 shows a scheme where the air entering the checkerwork regenerator is raised from ambient to approximately 500C. by means of a stainless steel design of rotary heat exchanger which is able to accept gases at 700C., with the final flue gas temperature being reduced to around 400C. The fuel savings for this scheme are up to 20%. (5) Crude distillation unit Figure 13 shows in line form a typical installation on a crude heater on an oil refinery. An average duty for this type of furnace would be in the range of 1-2 10a Btu/h.
Gross

tonk

/~

Chequer
brickwork

/~

X ~X
500

I
700*

I
Air

~-

FLue 9os

to stock

Fig. 12. Additional heat recovery for a fiat glass tank.

268

I. WARREN

J J

I.D. Fan / / F.D. Fan / Air p r e h e o t e r

Fig. 13. Rotary prehea/cr installed on crude distillation unit.

55 550 tb/hr t at 96 deg C

35000 tb/hr ~ i

IO.5 HL 1750 Howdenpteheol.r

I
40000 CFM i o t 70deg

I I

m 4 z o o t~/hr

C
I-b/hr I 7'0 deg C ' I A reopen1 J cooling o*r

burner

O't 171 deg C overoge %emp Fig: 14.

I0000 CFM

Heot wheeL (sizel2 HL 900)5-7 tonnes

,T85~

"FJ~J~155 WG(.241)

-. I

, -

"7

..

"..... |

,,, ,o. a

A~'2s'c

L_C_JA, I~4"Cl

" ~

' i

' i '

Direct fireO ~ . / neQter r'~'~_

I
~ iI

l|oLto...go~ou*

,
,

ti
,..'
4 5 0 0 btick$/hr
WeT oir -

I [0"/o "tronsm~ssio~ I Loss)

(35t h e r m s / : , , r ~ : ~
e~_.~.~ "
~Y/ I r'er i Drier requiremen'| 80 therms / hr

Fig. 15. Flowsheet for recovery on modified H o f f m a n kiln ceramic works.

Ljungstrom heat exchangers for waste heat recovery

Butone I/D Fon TOstock Gas to oir oreheater 13.31B kg/set:. 01~ 106/120 ~degrees C. ~]
| (.,urfently 6.716X106

269

kcoL/hr

Ar 20";

,:o% t,r-,, . . . .

Cyclonesand bog filters ~or producl powder collection

F/D Fon

Howden 12.5 HL 700 rotory air preheoter 2 tier design (Cold end elements cooced with vitreous enomel)

Air tO direcl: "tired air heater

"flow rote: 10.636 kq/sec temperature 7 0 degrees C

Fig. 16. Schematic for low-grade heat recovery from dryer powder production.

Preheated combustion air on this type of installation is now becoming the norm rather than the exception. (6) Brick manufacture In the brick industry it is normal for the clay to be dried by taking the warm cooling air coming from the adjacent Hoffmann Kiln and further raising its temperature by means of a direct fired heater. It is possible via a heat exchanger, in this case a Howden rotary, to exchange heat from the kiln exhaust gases to the warm cooling air and thereby reduce the load on the direct fired heater. In one case currently being examined, the fuel savings are calculated at 52~. In another case, actually installed, the savings are greater as it has been possible to virtually eliminate the load on the direct fired heater. These examples are illustrated in Figs 14 and 15. A low temperature use, on a dryer, is illustrated schematically in Fig. 16, and performances achieved in the petrochemical industry are listed in Table 2.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Since the inception of the Howden Rotary Regenerative Air Preheater in the 1920's, continuous development has taken place to ensure that the operation and performance of
Table 2. Typical examples of air preheat in the petrochemical industry Temperatures C Plant Ultraformer -ultrafiner Crude Dist. unit Ammonia (cracking) Naptha reformer Crude dist. unit Crude and vacuum Unifiner and platformer Crude dist. unit Methanol plant Methanol plant Fuel Natural gas HF.O. Naptha Natural gas Natural gas H.F.O. H,F.O. Natural gas Naptha Natural gas gas in 563 499 356 438 " 499 474 552 282 375 390 gas out 199 196 171 240 201 201 268 136.4 187 132 air in 4.4 4.4 16 10 4 15.6 15.6 -5 25 4 air out 438 357 272 329 362 343 413 335 260 350 Fuel saving saving (%) 21.4 17.6 9.15 11.8 17.4 15.8 17.3 7.9 9.4 14.1

270

WARREN

," H

t~_..

L?:.

Fig.171Modern seals.
the preheaters will match changes in the size and operating characteristics of various types of plant. Whilst the basic principle of a rotating matrix has been retained, the heat transfer elements, general construction and sealing systems have all been altered radically over a period of time. In general this development has been carried out gradually, based on either manufacturing and operating experience or the general trend in the design of the plant equipment. Two specific examples are given below.

From

DC 3

From DC 2 8 0 0 - 1200 deq. C

t
Combustion olr, 37 080 LDs/ hr a't 600 degC Combus'tion ore a't 15 deq.C.

J
4 2 9 8 2 t l ~ / h r o+ flu~ gas dilu'ted 1o 750 oeq

!,

I1l

oi,

(high "temperature

]~

I/D "fan

Gas reaving temperature

252 d ~ _ C .

To

DC 3 stock

Fig.18.High-temperature air preheater.

To DC 2 stack

Ljungstrom heat exchangers for waste heat recovery

271

(l) Sealin9 Power station design has become much more rapid over the last few years and as a result there is more flexibility in commissioning and operating procedures with the use of computer control for instance. To ensure that the Howden Air Preheater keeps pace with these new conditions, the latest designs incorporate a sealing system arranged to provide external on-load adjustment of seal clearances. This is shown briefly in Fig. 17. The seals can be adjusted manually, by electric actuators, or automatically by the use of sensors. Systems of this type can presently be incorporated on the larger preheaters that are built in Glasgow by James Howden & Co. (2) Hifh-temperature air preheaters James Howden have been awarded a design study, funded by the E.E.C., for the application of a rotary regenerative air preheater on the high temperature exhaust of two aluminium melting furnaces. This has now been completed and a Development Grant has been allocated for the hardware. The air heater internals would be constructed mainly in stainless steel as the diluted flue gas temperature is 750C. at the air preheater inlet. The recovered heat is being used to preheat combustion air to 600C. Projected fuel savings are 33~o. See Fig. 18.

CONCLUSIONS

It has been demonstrated that the Ljungstrom Rotary Air Preheater is far from a new device--in fact it is the exact opposite, having been developed over a period in excess of half a century. The reliability of these units is well-proven, with over 15000 units operating around the world. Briefly, the Ljungstrom Air Preheater offers a reasonably priced, compact, simple and easily maintained solution to many gas-gas heat transfer problems. The possible fuel savings range from the small percentage, through the normal to a few showing very large economies and at the end of the day it is the cash value of these savings that a potential user is interested in. Naturally each potential application needs careful investigation and design. To this end, the Howden Group of Companies can offer a complete service, ranging from the supply of hardware alone, right through to 'turn-key' packages.
REFERENCES 1. V. W. Ridley, Designing reliability into marine steam power plants, Trans. S.N.A.M.E., Vol. 78 0970). 2. D. C. Gunn, Air preheat for shell boilers, Proc. Syrup. Air Preheat.for industrial Boilers, Dewsbury, Yorkshire, 4 March 1981, Institute of Energy (1981).