| 摘要 |
Natural gas pipelines typically employ an underground large diameter pipe, on the order of about 42 inches in diameter, to conduct natural gas from a gas field to a place of consumption or to a shipping terminal. Compressor stations disposed along the pipeline compress the gas to maintain an acceptable rate of flow along the line. The compressing process heats the gas in the pipeline, and the heat is gradually lost to the ground along the length of the line. The present invention discloses a system and method for the recovery of such waste heat from a pipeline in which one or more recovery tubes or coils disposed underground, above or alongside the pipeline, carries a heat transfer fluid which collects the waste heat from the pipeline itself by a radiant transfer mechanism. The system may include a manifold and pumping system to utilize the heated heat transfer fluid to heat greenhouses, fish ponds, houses, and other facilities. The system may be employed to recover waste heat from any compressible fluid pipeline, such as natural gas, propane, butane, etc., and may also be used in connection with liquid fluids such as oil or gasoline which also generate heat when passing through pipelines.
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