Apparatus for heat energy recovery from escaping steam

摘要

An apparatus is disclosed for condensing steam emissions from industrial process sites such as in pretreatment plants for painting of car bodies. This includes the formation of a water spray curtain extending across the entrance and exit sections of a pretreatment plant to absorb and condense the steam emissions. The collected spray water is circulated through a heat recovery system such that the heat energy of the absorbed steam is transferred out of the water and heat utilizing processes such as in the heating of the solutions utilized the spray treatment plant itself. The pretreatment plants also include an overhead slot through which conveyor carriers pass, and a condenser surface arrangement is employed to eliminate the escape of steam through this slot, including cooled surfaces converging above and adjacent to the slot. The surfaces are cooled by internal circulation of a cooling liquid. The water generated by the steam condensing on the surfaces is diverted by an overhead panel. The cooling liquid is circulated to a heat recovery system such that the heat energy may be transferred into a heat utilizing process such as a preheater for the air supplied to a paint spray booth.