WASTE HEAT RECOVERY

V. SHANTHAN
MT21HPE001
 INTRODUCTION
 Waste heat recovery is the process of heat integration i.e. reusing heat energy that would otherwise be
disposed of or simply released into the atmosphere.
 By recovering waste heat, plants can reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions, while simultaneously
increasing energy efficiency.
 In any heat recovery situation it is essential to know the amount of heat recoverable and also how it can
be used.
 Some of the sources of waste heat that is getting dumped into environment are
• Heat in flue gases.
• Heat in vapour streams.
• Convective and radiation heat loss from the exterior of equipment.
• Heat losses in cooling water.
• Heat stored in the products leaving the process.
• Heat in effluents leaving the process.
 Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) systems are introduced for each range of waste heat to allow the
most optimum efficiency of waste heat recovery to be obtained.
 Heat loss can be classified into high temperature, medium temperature and low temperature
grades.
 High temperature WHR consists of recovering waste heat at temperatures greater than 650 °C.
And most of the waste heat in the high temperature range comes from direct combustion
processes.
 Medium temperature WHR consists of recovering waste heat in the temperature ranges from
230-650 0C. Waste heat in the medium temperature range comes from the exhaust of
combustion units.
 Low temperature WHR consists of recovering waste heat at temperatures lesser than 230 °C.
Usually, waste heat in the low temperature range comes from parts, products and the equipment
of process units.
Advantages
 Direct Benefits:
 Recovery of waste heat has a direct effect on the efficiency of the process. This is reflected by
reduction in the utility consumption & costs, and process cost.
 Indirect Benefits:
 Reduction in pollution: Thermal and air pollution will dramatically decrease since less flue
gases of high temperature are emitted from the plant since most of the energy is recycled.
 Reduction in equipment sizes: Waste heat recovery reduces the fuel consumption, which leads to
reduction in the flue gas produced. This results in reduction in equipment sizes of all flue gas
handling equipment's such as fans, stacks, ducts, burners, etc.
 Reduction in auxiliary energy consumption: Reduction in equipment sizes gives additional
benefits in the form of reduction in auxiliary energy consumption like electricity for fans, pumps
etc..
 Commercial Waste Heat Recovery Devices
 Recuperator:
A recuperator is a counter-flow energy recovery heat
exchanger which transfers some of the waste heat in the exhaust to the
compressed air, thus preheating it before entering the compressor. Since
the gases have been pre-heated, less fuel is needed to heat the gases up to
the turbine inlet temperature. Recuperators can be said to mainly transfer
heat to the inlet gas based on convection, radiation or a combination of
radiation and convection.
 Regenerator:
A regenerative heat exchanger or a regenerator, is a type
of heat exchanger where heat from the hot fluid is intermittently stored
in a thermal storage medium before it is transferred to the cold fluid. To
accomplish this the hot fluid is brought into contact with the heat storage
medium, then the fluid is displaced with the cold fluid, which absorbs
the heat. Regenerators are used for large capacities.
 Heat Wheel:
It is a sizable porous disk, fabricated with material having a
fairly high heat capacity, which rotates between two side-by-side ducts:
one a cold gas duct, the other a hot gas duct. The axis of the disk is
located parallel to, and on the partition between, the two ducts. As the
wheel rotates, heat is captured from the exhaust air stream in one half
of the rotation and released to the fresh air stream in the other half of
the rotation.
 Economizer:
These are generally a finned tube heat exchangers that
recover low to medium waste heat and is utilised for heating liquids.
Economizer can be provided to utilize the flue gas heat for preheating
the boiler feed water. Installation of a boiler feed water economizer can
raise the thermal efficiency of a boiler and reduce fuel consumption by
5 - 10%.
 Waste heat Boilers:
Waste heat boilers consists of several water tubes
that are placed in parallel to each other and in the direction of
the heat leaving the system. The system is suitable to recover
heat from medium – high temperature exhaust gases and is
used to generate steam as an output. The steam can then be
used for power generation or directed back to the system for
energy recovery.
 Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger:
When the medium containing waste heat is a liquid
or a vapor which heats another liquid, then the shell and tube
heat exchanger must be used since both paths must be sealed
to contain the pressures of their respective fluids. The shell
contains the tube bundle, and usually internal baffles, to direct
the fluid in the shell over the tubes in multiple passes.
 Economic Evaluation of Waste Heat Recovery System:
It is necessary to evaluate the selected waste heat recovery system on the basis of financial analysis
such as investment, depreciation, payback period, rate of return etc. In addition the advice of experienced
consultants and suppliers must be obtained for rational decision.
 Manufacturing facilities offer great opportunities for waste-heat recovery. Medium to high
temperature exhaust gases from fossil-fuel-fired furnaces, boilers, and other process heating
equipment typically account for the greatest opportunities for passive waste-heat recovery in
industry.
 It was seen there are many different heat recovery technologies available for capturing the
waste heat and they mainly consist of energy recovery heat exchangers in the form of a
waste heat recovery unit. These units mainly comprise common waste heat recovery systems
and all work by the same principle to capture, recover and exchange heat with a potential
energy content in a process.
THANK YOU