Advances in Energy Research

  • 제7권2호
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  • Pages.147-166
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  • 2020
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  • 2287-6316(pISSN)
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  • 2287-6324(eISSN)
테크노프레스 (Techno-Press)
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DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Low-grade waste heat recovery and repurposing to reduce the load on cooling towers

  • McLean, Shannon H. (School of Engineering, Laurentian University) ;
  • Chenier, Jeff (Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (a Glencore Company)) ;
  • Muinonen, Sari (Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations (a Glencore Company)) ;
  • Laamanen, Corey A. (School of Engineering, Laurentian University) ;
  • Scott, John A. (School of Engineering, Laurentian University)
  • 투고 : 2020.04.13
  • 심사 : 2020.08.19
  • 발행 : 2020.06.25
⟨ 이전 논문 다음 논문 ⟩

초록

Industrial cooling towers are often ageing infrastructure that is expensive to maintain and operate. A novel approach is introduced in which a heat pump circuit is incorporated to reduce the load upon the towers by extracting low-grade energy from the stream sent to the towers and repurposing in on-site processing operations. To demonstrate the concept, a model was constructed, which uses industrial data on cooling towers linked to a smelter's sulphuric acid plant, to allow direct economic and environmental impact comparison between different heat recovery and repurposing scenarios. The model's results showed that implementing a heat pump system would significantly decrease annual operating costs and achieve a payback period of 3 years. In addition, overall CO2 emissions could be reduced by 42% (430,000 kg/year) and a 5% heat load reduction on the cooling towers achieved. The concept is significant as the outcomes introduce a new way for energy intensive industrial sectors, such as mineral processing, to reduce energy consumption and improve long-term sustainable performance.

키워드

과제정보

This work was supported by the Mitacs Accelerate program and the National Science and Research Council (NSERC).

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