Waste Heat Recovery Recover, then Reuse: How Heat Recovery Helps to Save up to 134 PJ Per Year

How production plants could save up to 134 PJ per year — Your production process may be up to the energy efficiency task — but what about your waste heat? Discover how heat recovery systems and economizers can turn exhaust heat into usable energy ...

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Does your business have enough money to blow it out of the chimney? A lot of companies do, apparently. Experts estimate that more than half of Europe's final industrial energy consumption is used to generate process heat — yet waste or exhaust heat, which could be used for direct heating purposes as well as for electricity generation or heat pumps, remains mostly unused. A shame, especially as a typical industry plant could save around 0.33 PJ/a, recent figures show.

To tap into this efficiency treasure chest, manufacturers like ­Kelvion provide plant operators with a variety of technologies: Exhaust gas heat exchangers, for example, can be used to transfer heat produced by smokestack gases from sources such as ovens, generators or combustion engines to a liquid. When heated up, this liquid can be used in cogeneration plants, combined heat and power plants, district heating systems or to supply energy and warmth on board of ships as well as in biogas plants and furnaces.

To provide energy efficiency for installations with a very limited space, Kelvion's new Exhaust Gas Heat Exchange features a compact design made from high-alloyed stainless steel, which allows it to withstand temperatures of up to 550 °C. Its sturdy setup even withstands high continuous stresses caused by vibration and pressure pulsation, the manufacturer states. Kelvion's Exhaust Gas Heat Exchanger comes equipped with a compact finned heat exchanger module, which is easily replaceable and therefore service-friendly. The compact fin tube bundles completely made out of stainless steel are insensitive to soiling and easy to clean with high pressure as well as cleaning agents.

Waste Heat Recovery Going Modular

But there are even more energy savings to be discovered: To recover residual heat from oil, gas or wood-fired boilers for reuse in other thermal operations, economizers like Kelvion's Ecomi are used. The new model combines the proven economic advantages of previous economizer designs with a modular set-up, leading to even more efficiency gains, costs savings and versatility, the manufacturer states.

The Ecomi can be used in the paper, food, textiles, power and HVAC industries. To give its customers the chance to find the fitting setup for each application, Kelvion offers multi-stage dry/wet systems, using both carbon steel and stainless steel components to give the operator an optimal solution at the lowest possible price. With its vertical, horizontal or horizontal to vertical installation, the new unit can be easily integrated into existing plants. The Ecomi can handle a wide range of gas flow volumes and be fitted with different tube variants or sheet types to suit operating conditions.

As industrial facilities and power plants generate waste heat that is usually released into the air, heat recovery solutions can transform waste heat into useful forms of energy, reducing emissions and boosting efficiency. In fact, the widespread use of waste heat recovery solutions could save up to 134 PJ/a (or 37,252 GWh) in whole Europe — a sum, that would otherwise simply go up in smoke. DST

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