Previous Situation

Before our intervention, the plant operated its cooling and heating systems completely independently, without taking advantage of the energy integration opportunities offered by its own process. The refrigeration compressors generated a significant amount of residual heat during operation, which was discharged through a cooling tower system, consuming additional energy in fans to dissipate that thermal load into the environment.

At the same time, the plant’s boilers used natural gas to heat water from network temperature up to the conditions required to feed production processes and auxiliary services. This generated double energy expenditure: on one hand, high natural gas consumption in the boilers, and on the other, sustained electrical consumption in the cooling tower to dissipate the excess heat that could actually have been reused. Furthermore, this configuration unnecessarily increased the company’s carbon footprint, missing a clear opportunity for energy optimization.

The Solution

To address this inefficiency and transform thermal waste into a valuable energy resource, a plate heat exchanger was designed and installed to connect both systems. This equipment allows recovering the thermal energy contained in the compressors’ cooling water and transferring it to the boiler make-up water before its entry into the heating system.

Thus, the project achieved:

• Preheating the water feeding the boilers, significantly reducing the natural gas consumption needed to reach the working temperature.

• Lowering the temperature of the water returning to the cooling tower, reducing the thermal load to dissipate and decreasing the electrical consumption of the associated fans.

The recovered thermal power reaches 500 kW, generating double energy savings: lower gas expenditure and reduced electrical consumption in refrigeration.

As a result, not only was the plant’s total energy consumption and carbon footprint reduced, but also a financial return in less than 10 months was achieved, consolidating an industrial energy efficiency project with a positive environmental impact and quick economic recovery.

Results