Making the most of waste heat

Thermal energy requirements meet the needs of various processes: drying, concentration or distillation, heating and heat input to chemical reactors. These needs are covered for 60% by fossil fuels (gas, fuel oil, coal), 30% by electrical energy and the remainder by various resources (renewable, biomass, etc.).

During these processes, large quantities of heat are released at lower temperatures. Some of this heat is directly recycled by being re-injected into the process or used to preheat incoming flows; some is rejected into the atmosphere without being recycled.

To recover these net losses, particularly below 200°C, various energy recovery technologies are available. Above 200°C, few recovery technologies are available, apart from heat recovery units.

This sheet will help you identify technical solutions for recycling.