Review of Possible Waste Heat Sources from Industrial Facilities and Their Potential Use

Abstract

The aim of the paper was to review the main reusable sources of heat from industrial facilities and to analyze the most efficient way in which they can be exploited. In order to carry out some case studies, examples were chosen from fields of industry in which energy consumption is very high, namely the energy and mining industries. It was shown that although there are large amounts of energy that can be recovered, they are generally low temperature heat sources. Their efficient recovery can be achieved with the help of heat pumps, but due to the final temperature of the heat source, which is around 70 °C, they can be used mainly as heat sources for heating or hot water. This use greatly limits the research and projects for the reuse of these secondary energy resources, therefore future research should focus on obtaining higher temperatures, but also on the production of steam from these sources. The production of steam would facilitate an increase in projects for the recovery of these secondary energy resources for industrial use, which would lead to a superior valorization of them.