Session: 02-01 Heat Pump and Building Waste Heat Utilization

Paper Number: 107592

107592 - Waste Heat Assessment of a Manufacturing Facility 

A waste heat assessment of a manufacturing facility with low-quality waste heat is conducted. A physical survey identified seven potential waste heat sources with fluid exhausts: the boiler flue, the chiller loop for the HVAC system, the exhaust from polypropylene dryers, from the compressed air dryer, from the plant vacuums, and from an electroplating air handler, and the deaerator. The temporal fluctuations in temperature and flow rate, and the frequency of occurrence of the waste heat, were determined from measurements, calculations, and company records. Variations were observed in the boiler flue and in the dryers.  The monthly energy and exergy of the waste heat were calculated for a reference temperature of 25 °C. The total annual waste heat is calculated to be 36.5 TJ of energy which represents 0.84 TJ of exergy. The boiler, plant vacuums, and chiller comprise 96% of the energy rejected and are the major contributors to the rejected exergy. Matching the waste heat to space heating is evaluated. Based on fuel consumption in the boiler, the annual energy for space heating is estimated 8.5 TJ. Waste heat from the boiler flue, polypropylene dryers, and plant vacuums could meet up to 39% of this energy without storage and 63% with thermal storage to better overlap waste heat supply with demand. The study highlights the need to consider fluctuations in the waste heat supply and sink demand, the need for thermal storage, and identifying relatively simple modifications to recover waste heat.

Presenting Author: Adam Gladen North Dakota State University

Presenting Author Biography: Adam Gladen is an assistant professor at North Dakota State University. He completed his Ph.D. and M.S. in mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota, and his B.S. in mechanical engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. His research interests include solar thermal energy and processes, thermal energy storage, thermochemical energy storage, radiative transport in participating media, and thermal system design.