Refrigerant-114 Rankine cycle energy recovery technology from the gaseous diffusion industry

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Abstract
This report gives an unclassified accounting of energy recovery technology developed in the gaseous diffusion (uranium enrichment) industry during the past twenty years. Four Rankine cycle energy recovery installations using Refrigerant-114 (R-114) as the working fluid are described, and the conclusions drawn from their operation are given. In all these installations, energy was extracted from waste heat by using R-114 vapor to drive expansion turbines connected to compressor motor shafts. This arrangement resulted either in reducing the electric load on the motor, or, if the motor could be overdriven to act as a generator, in returning electric power to the plant electrical grid. Factors significant in the design of these energy recovery systems, as well as economic and design considerations that may be significant in applications in other industries, are discussed. Included, among others, are the following topics: the selection of suitable system controls; the superiority of R-114 to steam as the working fluid in some energy recovery systems; the advantages and disadvantages of different turbine types; the uses and limitations of positive contact seals in refrigerant systems; and methods of enhancing energy recovery, such as tracking ambient conditions and using countercurrent flow cooling.

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