Utilization of Waste Heat from Industrial Air-Cooled Compressors

Abstract

Industrial compressed air systems are generally considered inefficient, with end users consuming only 10% to 30% of primary energy. Therefore, the inefficiencies of these systems must be minimized. By improving compressed air components and systems and using them correctly, you can save 20% to 50% on electricity, reduce costs, reduce downtime and increase productivity. A relatively large number of measures and activities can be implemented to reduce energy consumption in compressed air systems. The purpose of the work is to present the process of analyzing the use of waste heat from an air-cooled compressor for space heating in an industrial company. The method is applied to a case study of an industrial company in the food industry. The utilized waste heat presents 36.6% of the total electricity consumed by compressors in the facility. This energy efficiency measure saves more than 3% of the total heat consumed in the company, while the payback period is less than 7 months.