Technical background
In the palm oil filling process, the contradiction between the rapid cooling demand of high-temperature raw materials (80-95℃) and the loss of heat energy has long existed. Traditional filling equipment uses external cooling devices to force cooling, which not only consumes additional electricity, but also causes more than 50% of heat energy to be directly discharged into the environment. To address this problem, the new generation of filling systems integrates a dynamic waste heat recovery module (DHRM) to achieve closed-loop utilization of heat energy and coordinated optimization of energy consumption.
Technical Principle
The DHRM system consists of three functional units:
.Heat energy capture unit: A nano-scale phase change material coated pipeline is deployed downstream of the filling port to quickly absorb the waste heat released by the cooling of liquid palm oil through the capillary adsorption principle (average calorific value 2.8MJ/m³);
.Energy conversion unit: A Stirling engine is used to convert the temperature difference potential energy into mechanical energy to drive the circulating water pump and the filling valve actuator;
.Intelligent distribution unit: Based on real-time temperature monitoring data, the ratio of heat energy storage (supplying raw materials for preheating in the pretreatment section) and instant conversion (driving equipment operation) is dynamically adjusted.
The system breaks through the limitation of fixed power output of traditional waste heat recovery equipment, and realizes automatic matching of heat energy utilization with filling speed through fuzzy PID control algorithm. When the production line runs at full speed of 120 bottles/minute, 83% of the lost heat energy can be captured, of which 62% is converted into equipment driving energy and 21% is stored in the heat storage tank for non-peak hours.
Technical advantages
·Energy consumption reduction: Compared with the traditional electric drive cooling system, the comprehensive energy consumption is reduced by 44%-52%;
·Carbon emission reduction: A single production line can reduce 38 tons of CO₂ equivalent emissions per year;
·Improved stability: Eliminate the impact of external grid voltage fluctuations on filling accuracy, and compress the filling volume standard deviation from ±1.2mL to ±0.4mL;
·Compatibility: Support seamless connection with the existing filling line control system, and the transformation cycle is ≤72 hours.
Application verification
The measured data at a palm oil production base in Indonesia showed that after the filling line equipped with the DHRM module ran continuously for 240 hours, the system's self-sustaining energy supply rate reached 71%, and only external electricity was needed during the low-load period at night. The preheating temperature of the raw materials in the pretreatment section was increased to 65°C, which increased the fluidity of palm oil by 17% and further reduced the pipeline transportation resistance.
Industry Significance
This technology provides dual value to palm oil processing companies in tropical regions: on the one hand, it reduces dependence on unstable power grids through energy self-circulation, and on the other hand, it meets the requirements of regulations such as the EU's "deforestation-free regulation" with its low-carbon properties. With the improvement of the global carbon tariff system, this type of endogenous energy efficiency optimization technology will become a core competitiveness indicator for food processing equipment.
