v°/EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Industrial Environmental Research
Laboratory
Cincinnati OH 45268
Research and Development
EPA-600/S7-82-030 Oct. 1982
Project Summary
Waste Heat Recovery
Potential in
Selected Industries
S. R. Latour, J. G. Menningmann, and Benjamin L Blaney
The goal of the research project
summarized herein is to establish the
location, thermal quality, and quantity
of waste heat discharged to the
environment by energy-intensive
industries and emerging energy-
conversion technologies.
Among the industries studied are
the eight which discharge the largest
quantities of waste heat. Potential
thermal pollution streams from the
new energy conversion technologies
are also discussed.
Data from this study will permit
evaluation of various energy manage-
ment techniques and identification of
possible beneficial uses of waste heat.
The principal goals of the EPA in this
project are: decreased quantities of
discharged pollutants as a result of
decreasing fuel consumption; increased
efficiency of energy utilization as a
pollution control technique; and
assuring that new pollutants are not
generated by new waste heat recovery
systems.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Industrial Environmental
Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH,
to announce key findings of the
research project that is fully docu-
mented in a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
information at back).
Introduction
This study assesses the potential for
energy recovery from selective industries
(Table 1) and emerging energy-conver-
sion technologies (Table 2). Data from
this study can be used to evaluate
various heat-management techniques
(Table 3).
The principal goals of the EPA in this
project are: decreased quantities of
discharged pollutants as a result of
decreasing fuel consumption; increased
efficiency of energy utilization as a
pollution control technique; andassuring
that new pollutants are not generated
by new waste heat recovery systems.
Table 1. Standard Industrial Classifications of Energy Intensive Industries
SICtt Classification SICtt Classification
2611 Pulp Mills 3211
2621 Paper Mills (ex. Bldg. Paper) 3221
2631 Paperboard Mills 3229
2812 Alkalies and Chlorines 3241
2813 Industrial Gases 3274
2819 Industrial Inorganic 3312
Chemicals
2865 Cyclic Crudes & Intermediates 3321
2869 Industrial Organic Chemicals 3331
2873 Nitrogenous Fertilizers 3334
2911 Petroleum Refineries
Flat Glass
Glass Containers
Pressed and Blown Glass
Cement Hydraulic
Lime
Blast Furnace and Steel
Mills
Grey Iron Foundries
Primary Copper
Primary Aluminum
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Table 2. Emerging Technologies for
Energy Development
Coal Conversion
Gasificator
Lurgi Gasifier
Koppers-Totzek Gasifier
Wellman-Galusha Gasifier
Winkler Process
Hygas
COz Acceptor Process
Sythane Process
Low Btu Synthesis
Liquefaction
Bergius Process
Fisher- Tropsch Process
Coed Process
H-Coal Process
Oil Shale Retorting
Indirect heat transfer retorts
Combustion zone retorts
Externally heated gas/liquid retorts
Externally heated solid retorts
Uranium Enrichment
Paducah, Kentucky
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Portsmouth, Ohio
This study identified industries and
emerging technologies which offer the
greatest potential for discharging
substantial quantities of waste heat to
the environment. For each of the
industries, a study was conducted to
document all waste-heat discharges to
the environment. The major source of
data collected on flue gases was the
National Emissions Data System (NEDS)
Point Source Listings. These data on
point sources of discharge were then
verified for each industrial classification
by discussion with various industry
officials and by correlation with other
related studies conducted both by the
Environmental Protection Agency and
the Department of Energy. Data on
wastewater and non-contact cooling
waters containing significant quantities
of waste heat were also identified,
when possible, utilizing EPA develop-
ment documents for effluent limitations,
correspondence with industrial pollution
control officers, literature surveys, and
various United States government-
sponsored research and development
reports.
The energy intensive industries
included in this study are presented in
Table 1.
The emerging technologies for energy
development and the specific processes
reviewed in this report are presented in
Table 2.
Table3. Optimum Operating Temperature of Waste-Heat Recovery Processes
Temperature Range
High Medium
1 200°F-20OO°F 250° F- 1 200° F
(649°C-W93°C) (121°C-649°C)
• Radiation recuperator
• Convection recuperator
• Ceramic heat wheels
• Refractory regenerators
Metallic heat wheel
Passive gas to gas regenerator fair preheater)
Heat pipe exchanger
Finned tube heat exchanger (economizers)
Shell and tube heat exchangers
Waste heat boilers
Gas and vapor expanders
Organic Rankine cycle heat engine
Low
0°F-250°F
(0°C-121°C)
• Heat pumps
Several waste heat recovery technol-
ogies were also reviewed to identify
their potential for recovering waste heat
energy from a fluid (i.e., liquid or
gaseous) waste stream product, or
byproduct, and returning it to a process
stream in such a manner that a net heat
energy transfer resulted in a credit to
the overall energy balance of the
process. These processes and devices
are shown in Table 3.
In the final project report each of
these processes is described, applica-
tions in industry are provided, and
limitations and/or specific advantages
for each technique are given.
Environmental Impacts of
Waste Heat
The environmental impacts which
may result from the discharge of waste
heat to the environment may be sepa-
rated into two general categories: 1)
those impacts resulting from the
release to the environment of the
various chemical and particulate pollu-
tants contained in the waste heat
stream, and 2) those impacts resulting
from the release to the environment of
the heat energy contained in the waste
heat stream.
The environmental impacts resulting
from the release of pollutants are
specific to the composition and volume
of each discharge. However, any action
which results in an increase in the
efficiency of energy utilization (whether
it is accomplished by waste heat
recovery or general conservation prac-
tices) may be considered as a pollution
control alternative in that these actions
will result in a reduction in fuel
consumption, and, generally, in a
corresponding decrease in the quantity
of pollutants discharged.
The greatest potential impact of
waste heat discharges is to natural
bodies of water and their aquatic
ecosystem. Although a large number of
studies have been and are being
conducted in attempts to further define
these cause and effect relationships,
considerable data are still lacking. Some
of the known and reported effects
associated with temperature increases
of natural waterways are: decreasing
gas (oxygen) solubilities; changes in
species diversity, metabolic rates,
reproductive cycles, digestive and
respiration rates, and behavior of the
aquatic organism; and increasing the
parasitic bacterial population. All of
these have the potential for creating an
unbalanced aquatic ecosystem.
Major Project Results
Energy Intensive Industries
The United States consumed approxi-
mately 73 quadrillion Btu (quads) (77
exajoules) of fuels in 1977. Slightly over
21.4 quads (25.4 exajoules) was used
either directly or indirectly (e.g. through
electricity consumption) by the industrial
sector alone. Approximately 6.5% of the
Nation's purchased energy in 1977 was
discharged as waste heat to the en-
vironment by the eight most energy
intensive industries. Approximately
four percent was discharged as flue
gases, and two percent was discharged
as identified wastewater and cooling
water discharges.
Of the industrial sector's fuel con-
sumption, approximately 37% was
discharged to the environment as waste
heat by major energy-intensive indus-
tries included in this study. Flue gases
accounted for about 23%, and identified
wastewaters and cooling waters
accounted for about 14%.
This wasted heat is not only costly for
industry and hence the consumer, but it,
is becoming increasingly apparent that
thermal pollution affects climatic and
biotic conditions. In light of the present
energy shortage and environmental
problems faced today, it is apparent that
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waste heat should be minimized through
process design and/or recovery tech-
niques.
Figure 1 presents the annual waste
heat discharged by flue gases for the
major energy intensive industries in
1977. Petroleum Refining, SIC 2911,
discharged the largest quantity of flue
gas waste heat to the environment.
Steel Mills, SIC 3312, was the second
largest annual discharger of flue gas
waste heat. These two together repre-
sent approximately 50% of the total
annual flue gas waste heat discharged
by the nineteen SIC groups included in
this study.
Figure 2 presents the percentage of
the annual waste heat discharged by
flue gases at temperatures above 350°F
(177°C). The heat content of the waste
heat discharges above 350 F (177°C),
were considered "Btu Available" due to
their greater potential for energy
recovery via conventional heat exchanger
devices.
Figure 3 presents the percent of
energy consumed (purchased fuels and
electricity) discharged as flue gas waste
heat by each SIC. As the figure shows,
Flat Glass, SIC 3211, discharged more
then 75% of the energy content of its
purchased fuels and electricity as flue
gas waste heat. Six industries: Flat
Glass, Petroleum Refineries, Hydraulic
Cement, Blast Furnaces and Steel Mills,
Primary Copper, and Lime, all discharged
more than 50% of their purchased fuels
and electricity as flue gas waste heat.
Only three industries, Paperboard Mills,
Cyclic Crudes and Intermediates, and
Nitrogenous Fertilizers, discharged less
than 10% of their purchased fuels and
electrical energy as flue gas waste heat.
The figure also indicates that the Flat
Glass Industry, SIC 3211, has the
greatest percent of its flue gas waste
heat discharged at temperatures greater
than 350°F (177°C). Only three indus-
tries. Flat Glass SIC 3211, Petroleum
Refining SIC 2911, and Glass Containers
SIC 3221, discharge more than one half
of their flue gas waste heat at tempera-
tures greater than 350°F (177°C). The
Paper and Allied Products (i.e., SIC
2611, 2621, 2631) discharged greater
than 80% of their waste heat as low
grade waste heat at temperatures less
than350°F(177°C).
The percentages presented in Figure
3 may be somewhat conservative since
the data used in this analysis do not
include wastewater and cooling water
discharges, nor do they account for the
relative feedstock energy content.
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Figure 1. Annual waste heat discharged (flue gases only) by SIC numbers. (1977).
These figures are discussed in the
individual industry evaluations contained
in the complete report.
Figure 4 presents the annual flue gas
waste heat discharged in the 10 EPA
Regions. These data reflect the regional
potentials for commercial use of low-
grade waste heat in the fields of space
heating, soil warming, agriculture, and
other applications, as well as for
industrial recycling of high-grade waste
heat.
EPA Regions 3, 5, and 6 have the
largest quantities of flue gas waste heat
discharged to the environment. Region
5 has the greatest quantity of flue gas
waste heat discharged. This waste heat
is discharged primarily by the Steel,
Petroleum, and the Organic Chemicals
Industries. Waste heat discharges in
Region 5 were due primarily to waste
heat discharged by Petroleum, Organic
Chemicals, Cement, Inorganic Chemicals
and Papermills. The waste heat in
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S. R. Latour and J. G. Menningmann are with DSS Engineers. Inc., Ft.
Lauderdale, FL 33313; Benjamin L. Blaney (also the EPA Project Officer, see
below) is with the Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory, Cincinnati,
OH 45268.
The complete report, entitled "Waste Heat Recovery Potential in Selected
Industries," (Order No. PB 82-259 276; Cost: $22.50, subject to change) will
be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cincinnati, OH 45268
•&U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1982/659-095/538
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