In a recent project, an existing ammonia compound system was successfully expanded to include a high-performance heat recovery unit (HRU). The aim was to efficiently feed unused waste heat back into the production process – with a direct effect on energy consumption and operating costs.

Up to 1 MW heating capacity from oil coolers

The heat recovery system uses the waste heat from the oil coolers of the ammonia screw compressors and is able to provide up to 1 megawatt of heating power. This energy is used to preheat three buffer tanks, each with a volume of 50 m³, to a temperature of up to 50 °C.

– sustainable, economical and future-oriented –

Due to numerous system expansions in the past, heat recovery was very inefficient. As part of the project, all heat recovery potentials were combined and optimized – an important step towards making heat recovery as effective as possible.

On-site support in the practice

In order to optimally adjust the heat recovery system to the real operating conditions, we visit the customer on site during a large-scale cleaning process in the production facility – a moment with a particularly high demand for domestic hot water.
The behavior of the entire system was checked to ensure that sufficient hot water is available at all times.

Application & benefits

The hot water produced is used for cleaning processes in the production facility – a constant heat requirement that can be ideally covered by the heat recovery system.

The advantages at a glance:

• Massive savings in natural gas
• Efficient use of compressor waste heat
• Reduction of CO₂ emissions
• Lower operating costs with a stable energy supply

Conclusion

The consistent use of waste heat from the oil coolers of the NH₃ combined system shows how existing systems can be modernized and made more energy-efficient with targeted measures.
The integration into a central, controlled heat recovery system not only saves energy, but also creates the basis for a long-term sustainable process heat supply.