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.