Concept of a test stand for electricity generation from waste heat using wet steam

The paper presents a concept of an innovative test stand for converting waste heat into electricity using wet steam. Two expanders will be tested, i.e. a rotary blower and a scroll compressor, which have been adapted for reverse cycle operation. The main objective of the stand is to verify experimentally the feasibility of the effective use of an innovative wet steam cycle for waste heat recovery. To verify the design assumptions, as well as the stand configuration and parameters, prelim-inary simulations were carried out in Ebsilon software. The solution innovation lies in using wet steam to enhance waste heat recovery. Wet steam is generated on the test stand by injecting water into saturated steam using a specially designed nozzle system. In this way, steam dryness can be controlled precisely and proper conditions are created for the expander operation. Saturated steam is generated in the boiler installed at the laboratory of the Department of Energy of the Cracow University of Technology. The test stand will enable the system operation and an assessment of the system’s potential applications. This will help to improve the energy efficiency of waste heat utilization and reduce emissions.