Weickgenannt, AnsgarKantor, IvanMaréchal, FrançoisSchiffmann, Jürg2021-05-312021-05-312021-05-312021-05-2810.3390/en14113149https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/178407This study investigates the technical and economic feasibility of replacing throttling valves with smale-scale, oil-free turbomachinery in industrial steam networks. This is done from the perspective of the turbomachine, which has to be integrated into a new or existing process. The considered machines have a power range of P = [0.5, ..., 250 kW] and have been designed using real industrial data from existing processes. Design guidelines are developed, which take into account the thermodynamic process as well as engineering aspects of such a turbomachine. The results suggest that steam conditioning prior to heat exchange could be completed by small expanders to produce mechanical work, reducing exergy destruction and improving site-wide energy efficiency compared to throttling valves. Cost estimates for such machines are presented, which serve as a basis for case-specific investment calculations. The resulting payback times of less than 18 months highlight the economic potential such solutions.industrial steam networksoil-freesmall-scale turbomachineryprocess integrationexergyenergy recoverytext::journal::journal article::research article