Every facility loses heat to the atmosphere. In industrial settings, this loss is a significant source of wasted energy and money. Recovering even a portion of lost heat allows companies to improve their energy efficiency, save money, and reduce their carbon footprint without altering existing workflows.
In this post, we will cover topics such as important qualities of heat recovery equipment and how to select the right one for your situation and application, including indirect heaters and heat exchangers.
What Is a Heat Recovery System?
Heat recovery systems use the heat energy from outgoing exhaust air to heat fresh incoming air. They typically consist of a heat exchanging unit, blower fans, and separate air flow channels (e.g., ducting or piping). The heat exchanging unit facilitates the extraction and transfer of heat from the outgoing air to the incoming air, the blower fans move the outgoing and incoming air through the channels, and the separate channels prevent cross-contamination between outgoing air and incoming air.
PRE-Heat Offers Several Systems
Dimple-Plate Heat Exchangers
The most versatile, sturdy, and cleanable plate heat exchanger is the Dimple-Plate (DPL) unit. The DPL uses dimples on each plate to maintain plate spacing and increase turbulence while operating at lower pressure drops. Our DPL is an all-welded, plate-type heat exchanger with the strongest primary-seal weld in the industry.
The welded design eliminates cross contamination (leakage) between the gases. DPL also has a high percentile heat transfer efficiency. Variable plate thickness, spacing, and size are chosen to satisfy system needs while further optimizing performance and cost. Cleaning and inspecting accessible ports are possible.
Shell and Tube Units
All types of VOC abatement or fume incineration, including catalytic, thermal recuperative, and thermal regenerative incinerators, make use of our high quality shell and tube heat exchangers as their primary and secondary heat exchangers. They are also utilized to take away the heat energy from industrial furnaces, kilns, ovens, and dryers of all kinds.
Shell and tube heat exchangers are used for many different applications. They can be placed in the exhaust of the object to be heated, or they can also be placed in the input of the object to be cooled. Shell and tube heat exchangers are available in vertical or horizontal design. When the exhaust air is very dirty, shell and tube heat exchangers are recommended because they don’t need frequent cleaning.
Indirect Heaters
Indirect heaters are most suitable for lower volumes of hot gases being expelled from the facility, or if gas temperatures are too low to be used directly in a heat exchanger. They can also achieve higher thermal efficiencies than direct systems at certain flow rates, depending on design specifications and operating conditions.
Benefits of Heat Recovery Systems
The ever-increasing operating expenses of heating, air conditioning, and ventilation can be significantly reduced by heat recovery from exhaust air.
The advantages of air-to-air heat exchangers are:
- Almost complete segregation of the air streams
- No moving components
- No wear, thus no maintenance required
- Long life and resistance to breakdowns
Who Needs a Heat Recovery System?
Heat recovery equipment is an integral part of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in buildings. As structures are being built for energy efficiency, they have become more tightly sealed so that natural pollutants cannot escape these structures over time. These natural pollutants can lead to poor air quality inside your building if not expelled from time to time through installing well thought-out equipment such as the heat recovery system or indirect heater.
Heat recovery systems are important in any industry that uses (or needs) heating, ventilation, or air conditioning systems, such as in car manufacturing and food and beverage processing. The purpose of the heat recovery system is thus two-fold: first, it ensures those natural pollutants can leave the structure, and secondly, it allows companies to achieve their goal of improved energy efficiency as well as a reduced carbon footprint by recovering lost excesses.
Heat loss represents a significant source of wasted energy and money in industrial settings. Recovering even a portion of lost heat allows companies to improve their energy efficiency, save money, and reduce their carbon footprint, all without altering existing workflows.
The end goal of the heat recovery system is to provide the most efficient use of energy possible. When designing a heat recovery system, it’s important to establish these goals up front, so that the design properly reflects what is required. The end-state of a heat recovery system is ultimately determined by the building’s final use and what the people who will live or work in it require. When designing the heat recovery system, be sure to consider these variables.
How We Can Help
Do you need help with designing an indirect heater, heat recovery system, or other industrial heating equipment? Or do you have questions about how to correctly size/configure your components so that they work together seamlessly for maximum energy savings and efficiency? PRE-heat is on hand to answer all of your questions!
Don’t forget to grab your free eBook to gain access to expert information that has helped prior clients choose the perfect heat recovery system for their industry.