Oluleye G., Jobson M., Smith R., 2014, A Hierarchical Approach for Evaluation of Waste Heat Utilization Opportunities, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 39, 1093-1098.
This paper presents a ranking criterion for evaluating opportunities that utilize recovered energy from the available waste heat in a process site. The ranking criterion takes into account the energy performance of waste heat recovery technologies associated with each opportunity, their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (namely CO2) and the economics (costs and benefits). Mathematical modelling of the opportunities using the ranking criterion is also developed to allow for systematic evaluation of opportunities, for example within an optimization framework. The methodology is applied to a case study of a petroleum refinery. Hierarchy and performance of waste heat utilization opportunities depends on the temperature of the heat available, amongst other factors. Sensitivity of the ranking to energy prices is studied, to explore the outlook for low-grade heat utilization in the future. The methodology can be applied to the process industries and other facilities producing low-grade heat.
