The study on the heat recovery from air compressors

Abstract

Effective use of utilities in production plants is an issue that is becoming increasingly significant in energy policy of Europe. Production of compressed air consumes 3% of the total electricity consumption in Europe. In order to produce compressed air, approximately 10-20% of electricity transferred to compressor is used, the rest is lost due to lack of tightness and heat losses. The aim of this work is to evaluate the possibility to install recovery systems on air compressors to recover the lost waste heat and its management for the needs of heating office buildings/production halls and analysis of investment profitability. The investment will be supported by co-financing in the form of energy efficiency certificates (so-called white certificates), which the production plant will be able to sell after receiving them from Polish Energy Regulatory Office in return for completing an investment that consists recovering waste heat from air compressors.

A Review of Energy Overconsumption Reduction Methods in the Utilization Stage in Compressed Air Systems

“…Various strategies have been proposed to reduce energy consumption in the compressor. The proposed solutions are to reduce the outlet pressure [1,3,9,42,47,48], reduce the temperature of the intake air [1,3,9,42,47], recover heat [1,9,42,49,50], minimize the use of air [1,9,42,48], select the appropriate compressor [3,9,42,47], and use a variable-speed motor [1,49,51,52]. For example, in a study conducted by J. K. Bader [42], the exergy analysis of five different compressor modifications was explored: pressure reduction, reduction in intake air temperature, heat recovery, reduction in air consumption, and correct compressor selection.…”

Energy Efficiency Modernizations at the Industrial Plant: A Case Study

“…The flow of heated water is directed towards the heat buffer, which simultaneously functions as a hydraulic clutch. To measure the amount of heat generated, it is planned to install the LC1 heat meter [23].…”

Energy Savings Measures in Compressed Air Systems

“…In an industrial CASs, about 80-93% of the electrical energy consumed is converted into heat, which can be used for space heating, industrial drying, preheating aspirated air for oil burners, in central heating or boiler systems, industrial cleaning processes, heat pumps, laundries, or any other application where hot air or hot water are required (Broniszewski and Werle, 2018;Huang et al, 2017;Goodarzia et al, 2017). A properly design heat recovery unit can have a recovery factor between 65% and 75%.…”