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Benefiting from waste heat recovery

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Do you have waste heat and don’t know what to do with it?

Energy costs are hurting business. Yet often there are concentrated sources of energy going to waste in manufacturing environments. Recovering waste heat back into processes can save substantial amounts of energy cost, and increase the spare heating capacity of existing systems.

Data matters

Doing heat recovery well requires good data and a good understanding of the existing systems, combined with a methodical approach to determining the optimum solution. Especially where there are multiple heat sources and heat sinks.

A Pinch Analysis is the gold standardAccreditation scheme for voluntary carbon offset and renewable energy projects. The tradable instruments are Verified Emission Reductions (VERs). The Gold Standard label can also be applied to CERs and I-RECs where the project meets the Gold Standard requirements around sustainable development and project additionality. for optimising heat recovery in your plant, but discrete feasibility studies are also very useful.

How can waste heat be recovered and used?

Waste heat can be available from a range of sources, including exhaust air from gas burners, de-superheating a refrigerant prior to latent heat rejection, oil coolant systems on air compressor and refrigeration compressors, wastewater discharge, furnace exhaust, refrigeration condensers, and many other sources.

Direct heat exchange using a tube or plate heat exchanger is a simple method for heat recovery, however, there are other methods. For example, a waste heat source at a relatively low temperature can be used to heat a process flow to a higher temperature using a heat pump. Indirect heat exchange can be achieved using a hot oil circuit where the heat source is too hot for direct heat exchange with the heat sink.

Waste heat can also be used in many ways:

Optimising waste heat recovery

Where a site has numerous heat sources and sinks, a “Pinch” analysis can be used to determine the optimum combination of heat recovery alternatives for that site. PinCH analysis attempts to identify similar heat loads nearest to available heat sources and minimise the use of artificial heating (e.g. from natural gas or electricity). The optimum combination from a heat recovery perspective is not always practical in a retrofit though, so the key is to determine how to get as close to the optimum as possible in a practical and cost-effective way.

Implementing waste heat recovery

Implementation should take into account a number of factors:

Make informed and smart decisions about heat recovery.

Northmore Gordon is passionate about helping large industrial and commercial customers increase energy productivity. We have done a number of pre-feasibility studies and business cases specifically investigating waste heat recovery options. We can help you identify and quantify your heat sinks and sources, determine the optimum solution for your situation, and develop an investment-grade business case.

For more specific details on heat recovery contact Andrew at a.clarke@northmoregordon.com

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What is the main topic of the Northmore Gordon article 'Benefiting from waste heat recovery'?

The article discusses how manufacturing environments often have concentrated sources of waste heat that go unused, and explains how recovering this waste heat back into processes can save substantial energy costs and increase the spare heating capacity of existing systems.

What tool is described as the 'gold standard' for optimising heat recovery in a plant?

A Pinch Analysis is described as the gold standard for optimising heat recovery in a plant, though the article notes discrete feasibility studies are also very useful, especially when there are multiple heat sources and heat sinks.

What sources of waste heat are mentioned in the article?

The article lists exhaust air from gas burners, de-superheating a refrigerant prior to latent heat rejection, oil coolant systems on air compressors and refrigeration compressors, wastewater discharge, furnace exhaust, refrigeration condensers, and other sources as potential sources of waste heat.

What methods can be used to recover waste heat?

Direct heat exchange using a tube or plate heat exchanger is a simple recovery method. Other methods include using a heat pump to raise a low-temperature waste heat source to heat a process flow at a higher temperature, and indirect heat exchange using a hot oil circuit when the heat source is too hot for direct exchange with the heat sink.

In what ways can recovered waste heat be used according to the article?

Waste heat can be used to re-heat combustion air for a furnace or oven, used directly in a dryer, used to heat water in pasteurisers, used to generate electricity via an Organic Rankine Cycle or steam turbine driving a generator, and used to generate hot water up to 100°C or steam at up to 160°C by extracting heat from a lower-temperature waste heat source.

How does a Pinch analysis help optimise waste heat recovery on a site with multiple heat sources and sinks?

A Pinch analysis attempts to identify similar heat loads nearest to available heat sources and minimise the use of artificial heating (such as from natural gas or electricity), determining the optimum combination of heat recovery alternatives for that site. Because the theoretical optimum isn't always practical in a retrofit, the goal is to get as close to optimum as possible in a practical, cost-effective way.

What factors should be considered when implementing a waste heat recovery project?

Implementation should consider the operating characteristics of the process (to avoid impacting output, product quality, reliability or productivity), staging of projects to minimise disruption and spread capital spend, the heat quality available (temperature and rate of supply) and its proximity to heating loads, measurement, monitoring and verification to track energy savings and enable creation of energy-saving or carbon abatement certificates, and future plans for expansion or plant upgrades.

What kind of studies has Northmore Gordon conducted related to waste heat recovery?

Northmore Gordon has conducted a number of pre-feasibility studies and business cases specifically investigating waste heat recovery options, helping clients identify and quantify heat sinks and sources, determine the optimum solution, and develop an investment-grade business case.

Who should be contacted for more details on heat recovery, according to the article?

The article directs readers to contact Andrew at a.clarke@northmoregordon.com for more specific details on heat recovery.

When was the article 'Benefiting from waste heat recovery' published and who authored it?

The article was published on November 19, 2019, and is credited to Northmore Gordon, with content attributed via the site's author profile to Craig Morgan, a mechanical engineer with over 30 years of experience including work in energy management and renewable energy generation systems.

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