Green steam industrial steam generator process and system

Abstract

A steam generation system includes a silo, a heater, a material transfer system, and a heat exchanger. The silo is configured to receive granular material into the silo at an upper portion of the silo. The heater is arranged at or in the upper portion of the silo to heat the granular material received into the silo. The material transfer system is arranged to remove granular material exiting from a bottom of the silo. The heat exchanger is disposed in a lower portion of the silo and is arranged to contact granular material flowing downward inside the silo. The electricity for operating the heater may be generated by a renewable energy source such as a solar energy source or a wind energy source.

1 . A steam generation system comprising:
 a silo configured to receive granular material into the silo at an upper portion of the silo;   a heater arranged at or in the upper portion of the silo to heat the granular material received into the silo;   a material transfer system arranged to remove granular material exiting from a bottom of the silo; and   a heat exchanger disposed in a lower portion of the silo and arranged to contact granular material flowing downward inside the silo.   
     
     
         2 . The steam generation system of  claim 1  wherein the heat exchanger comprises at least one bank of steam-generating tubes. 
     
     
         3 . The steam generation system of  claim 2  wherein the steam-generating tubes of the at least one bank of steam-generating tubes are oriented vertically. 
     
     
         4 . The steam generation system of  claim 3  wherein the heat exchanger further includes at least one economizer disposed beneath the at least one bank of steam-generating tubes. 
     
     
         5 . The steam generation system of  claim 4  wherein the tubes of the at least one economizer are horizontally and the material transfer system comprises a plurality of mutually parallel screw conveyors or conveyor belts arranged parallel with the horizontal tubes of the at least one economizer. 
     
     
         6 . The steam generation system of  claim 2  further comprising:
 a steam separator or steam drum operatively connected with the at least one bank of steam-generating tubes. 
 
     
     
         7 . The steam generation system of  claim 6  wherein the heat exchanger further includes:
 a superheater connected to receive water or steam from the steam separator or steam drum. 
 
     
     
         8 . The steam generation system of  claim 7  further comprising:
 a steam accumulator interposed between the steam separator or steam drum and the superheater. 
 
     
     
         9 . The steam generation system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a storage silo connected to 
 receive granular material removed from the silo by the material transfer system at an upper portion of the storage silo, and to 
 transfer granular material from the storage silo to the upper portion of the silo. 
 
     
     
         10 . A steam generation method comprising:
 providing a steam generation system including a silo configured to receive granular material into the silo at an upper portion of the silo, a heater arranged at or in the upper portion of the silo to heat the granular material received into the silo, a material transfer system arranged to remove granular material exiting from a bottom of the silo, and a heat exchanger disposed in a lower portion of the silo and arranged to contact granular material flowing downward inside the silo;   delivering granular material to the upper portion of the silo of the steam generation system;   delivering electricity to operate the heater of the steam generation system; and   flowing a heat transfer fluid through the heat exchanger of the steam generation system.   
     
     
         11 . The steam generation method of  claim 10  wherein the delivering of the granular material, the delivering of the electricity, and the flowing of the heat transfer fluid are performed concurrently. 
     
     
         12 . The steam generation method of  claim 10  wherein the delivered granular material comprises sand. 
     
     
         13 . The steam generation method of  claim 10  wherein the delivering of the electricity to operate the heater comprises generating the electricity from solar energy or from wind energy. 
     
     
         14 . The steam generation method of  claim 10  wherein the delivering of the granular material and the delivering of the electricity is effective to heat the granular material to a temperature of at least 600° C. 
     
     
         15 . The steam generation method of  claim 10  wherein the delivering of the granular material and the delivering of the electricity and the flowing of the heat transfer fluid is effective to cool the granular material exiting from the bottom of the silo to a temperature of 200° C. or lower. 
     
     
         16 . A steam generation system comprising:
 a silo configured to receive granular material into the silo at an upper portion of the silo;   a heater arranged to heat the received granular material to generate heated granular material;   a heat exchanger disposed in a lower portion of the silo and arranged to extract heat from the heated granular material flowing downward in the silo to generate cooled granular material;   a material transfer system arranged to remove the cooled granular material exiting from a bottom of the silo; and   a storage silo connected to store the cooled granular material removed by the material transfer system and to transfer granular material from the storage silo to the upper portion of the silo.   
     
     
         17 . The steam generation system of  claim 16  wherein the heat exchanger comprises at least one bank of vertically-oriented steam-generating tubes. 
     
     
         18 . The steam generation system of  claim 17  wherein the heat exchanger further includes at least one economizer comprising horizontally-oriented tubes disposed beneath the at least one bank of steam-generating tubes. 
     
     
         19 . The steam generation system of  claim 18  wherein the material transfer system comprises a plurality of mutually parallel screw conveyors or conveyor belts arranged parallel with the horizontally-oriented tubes of the at least one economizer. 
     
     
         20 . The steam generation system of  claim 16  further comprising:
 a steam separator or steam drum operatively connected with the at least one bank of steam-generating tubes; and 
 a steam accumulator connected to accumulate steam output by the steam separator or steam drum; 
 wherein the heat exchanger further includes a superheater connected to receive steam from the steam accumulator.