Simulation and Experimental Testing of Waste Heat Utilisation for Electricity Generation Using a Rotary Blower Driven by Wet Steam

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This paper presents an experimental investigation of a wet steam cycle (WSC) for waste-heat-to-power conversion using a rotary blower as an expander. In a WSC, the entire process takes place in the wet-steam region. To determine suitable rotary blower and generator parameters for testing, preliminary simulations were carried out using Ebsilon Professional software. Wet steam was produced by injecting feedwater into the saturated steam pipeline. To ensure a homogeneous mixture, the necessary length of straight pipe downstream of the injection nozzle was determined using CFD analysis. A detailed design was then developed, and a test stand was constructed. During the experimental test, the wet-steam gauge pressure at the expander inlet ranged from 2 bar to 2.8 bar. Wet steam mass flow rates were 425–500 kg/h with a steam quality of approximately 0.7–0.83. Generator output power ranged from 70 W to 130 W. The calculated isentropic efficiency of the expander ranged from approximately 7% to approximately 10%. The findings show that this expander type can be used to generate electricity from waste heat by implementing WSC. To the authors’ knowledge, no comparable studies have been reported to date. The cycle can contribute to more sustainable energy use when the available waste heat is insufficient to generate superheated or saturated steam.