Feasibility study of heat pumps for waste heat recovery in industry

Includes bibliographical references.A case study was thus carried out at an applicable local industry (brewery) to assess the feasibility of implementing the heat pump for waste heat recovery. Through analysis, the focus was narrowed down from a site wide audit, to a departmental breakdown and then eventually to a specific process; the wort boiler. Three different alternatives were investigated and the performance and economic viability compared; a simple waste heat recovery solution involving a vapour condenser (vq, a mechanical vapour recompression (MVR) heat pump and a thermal vapour recompression (TVR) heat pump. It was found that the MVR system yielded the greatest energy savings, followed by the VC and then the TVR system. All three systems had positive rates of return, with the VC and TVR systems being tied for first place