How To Build a Waste Heat Recovery System Tailored To Your Business

Don't Let Energy Go To Waste

Waste heat is energy (heat) produced during the industrial process that is not used in any productive capacity and is wasted in the environment. Waste heat can be generated at any point in the manufacturing process. Radiation from industrial equipment, heat discharged from combustion processes, even heated water and steam being expelled are all examples of energy that could be repurposed with a waste heat recovery system.

What is Waste Heat Recovery

A waste heat recovery system is a system designed to capture wasted heat and use it either as a heating source or to generate electrical and mechanical energy. For instance, a furnace in a steel factory generates tons of excess heat. Instead of letting it dissipate, you can install a waste heat recovery system that uses it to preheat the combustion air needed to burn fuel like liquid propane. In doing so, the waste heat from the furnace is used to spark the fuel that heats the furnace itself, prolonging its operation without needing to waste money on the energy required to heat incoming air.

Unfortunately, thanks to the laws of thermodynamics, you cannot repurpose 100% of your waste heat as usable energy. However, every joule of energy you can repurpose is one less joule you need to pay to generate in some other way AND helps increase the environmental sustainability of your operation.

Building a Waste Heat Recovery System

Building a waste recovery system requires three key things:

1) Knowledge of what kind of heat you’re dealing with — what temperature, how often it’s being produced, and when/where it’s available

2) A heat exchanger - the device that captures and converts the waste heat energy

3)A plan for what to do with that waste heat once it has been captured

Track and Define Your Waste Heat

Depending on your industry, heat can be given off from steam, heated water, combustion, the physical operation of industrial equipment, etc. Not only that, heat can be produced in a variety of temperatures that determine just how viable it is for use in other areas of production.

With IIoT thermal sensors linked to an Industrial HMI Panel, you can determine just what kind of waste heat you are dealing with, where it’s coming from, and precisely what times it’s generated. An IP65 certified HMI Interface is highly recommended since it is appropriately fortified against moisture ingress, which can be a common issue for waste heat recovery systems.

Pick the Right Heat Exchanger

Picking the right heat exchanger for your operation becomes much easier once you’ve figured out what kind of waste heat you’re dealing with. ScienceDirect has a beautiful resource that breaks down the multiple types of heat exchangers, how they work, and what industries they are the best fit for. We highly recommend checking that resource out once you’ve defined the kind of waste heat recovery system you wish to build.

Have a Plan for Your New Heat Energy

Where is there fluctuation in available heat that’s causing you to invest in more electrical energy? Can the new heat you’ve captured be used to supplement these practices? Is there a way to divert your newly captured waste heat to a different process that seems to be struggling? These are all questions you can ask and answer by consulting with your IoT sensors and intelligent hardware. And once you’ve found answers to these questions, you can ensure you build a waste heat recovery system designed to meet all of your pain points.

Before You Start, Make Sure Waste Heat Recovery Systems are Right For You

For those who know waste heat is a significant concern for their operations, the benefits of capturing and repurposing that heat can’t be understated. For more information on the hardware needed to build these waste heat recovery systems, contact an expert from Cybernet’s team today.