Views: 2398 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-04-02 Origin: Site
Against the background of large-scale development of conventional and unconventional oil and gas resources, natural gas compressors, as core power equipment for gathering, transportation and pressurization, have been increasingly applied. At present, gas turbine-driven compressors generally suffer from low thermal efficiency, direct emission of high-temperature flue gas and serious waste of waste heat resources, which not only increase energy consumption costs but also cause environmental impacts. Scientific recovery and utilization of compressor waste heat can significantly improve the overall energy efficiency of units, reduce energy loss and help enterprises reduce costs and increase benefits. This paper analyzes the core principle, utilization status and practical application effects of waste heat recovery, providing a reference for energy saving and consumption reduction in natural gas production.
Waste heat recovery focuses on reusing flue gas heat. The theoretical recoverable unit heat is directly related to exhaust volume, flue gas temperature difference and constant pressure heat capacity; the actual recoverable heat is affected by multiple factors such as equipment model, working condition load, ambient temperature and recovery device structure. Data calculation shows that after optimizing waste heat utilization, the comprehensive fuel utilization rate of gas turbines can be increased to 80%, of which about 34%–36% is used for work, and the remaining heat can be efficiently reused through waste heat recovery.
Taking a gas turbine with a rated power of 14.8MW as an example, with an exhaust volume of 180kg/s and flue gas cooled from 485℃ to 200℃, the theoretical recoverable heat reaches 6.3 kJ/(kW·s), showing great potential for waste heat recovery.
With the gradual decline of conventional oil and gas resources, unconventional natural gas including shale gas, coalbed methane, tight sandstone gas and natural gas hydrate has become an important supplement. Such resources have special storage conditions and require fracturing and other processes for exploitation, leading to higher dependence on compressor units.
The development and utilization of unconventional natural gas is of great significance to ensuring the long-term stable production of natural gas and improving the energy structure. As key equipment for exploitation, gathering and transportation, the efficient waste heat utilization of compressors is directly related to the overall production energy efficiency and economic benefits, and is an important link to reduce costs and increase efficiency in unconventional natural gas development.
Waste heat utilization of compressors is to recover and reuse the thermal energy generated in the compression process, which can be used for heating, power generation and other scenarios. It not only reduces energy waste, but also cuts external power and fuel consumption, optimizing the economy and safety of natural gas compression processing in the whole process.
Exhaust gas temperature drops from 347℃ to 45℃, waste heat utilization reaches 825.3kW, accounting for 42.9% of the compressor input energy;
The thermal efficiency of the unit increases from 20% to 62.9%, greatly improving the comprehensive energy efficiency;
Annual natural gas saving is 679,000 m³ (standard condition), annual energy-saving benefit is 767,000 yuan, and the investment payback period is only 2.2 years;
The system operates stably, producing about 0.6 tons of condensed water per day, which is discharged up to standard after anti-corrosion design and recycling treatment, with no hidden environmental dangers.
