A recycled
exhaust gas cooling and condensate regulation
system for a
natural gas fired
internal combustion engine driven co-generation
plant, which allows efficient exhaust recycled gas
combustion while maintaining lower head temperatures to reduce thermal
NOx emissions and delivering increased process / utility heat to a
proximate co-generation
client, is provided. The recycled
exhaust gas cooling and condensate regulation
system has primary and secondary, air-to-gas, exchanger units, coupled in series, such that the first unit, designed to take
exhaust gas exiting the engine, cools the gas to a first exhaust gas temperature effectively super saturating the
water vapor in the cooled exhaust gas; and, the second unit, designed to
handle lower inlet temperatures, condenses the
water vapor and super cools the exhaust gas to <130 F. In one embodiment, the engine intake mixture including the exhaust gas is supercharged. In another embodiment, a separate
intercooler circuit is used to cool the compressed intake charge containing the recycled gas prior to entry into the intake engine manifold to further reduce head temperatures and control thermal
NOx emissions.