Thermal Energy Storage/Heat Recovery and Energy Conservation in Food Processing

Modern food processing operations often require that the temperature of the processed foodstuff be raised or lowered. These operations result in energy consumption by refrigeration or heating systems, and a portion of this energy can be recovered from waste heat streams for reuse in the processing operations. This paper addresses the recovery of waste heat and the storage of thermal energy as a means of energy conservation in food processing. An energy conservation project in a poultry processing plant sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and conducted by Georgia Tech is used as an illustrative example of potential applications of heat recovery and thermal energy storage