Monetizing “Waste-To-Watts”

Many power plants and industrial processes generate large amounts of waste energy that simply passes out of plant stacks and into the atmosphere or are otherwise lost. Most industrial waste energy streams are liquid, gaseous, or a combination of the two as well as pressure drops. Stack exhaust losses are inherent in all fossil fuel-fired processes and increase with the exhaust temperature and the amount of excess air the exhaust contains can control emissions. It is likely to be the single biggest loss in the process and can approach at least half of the total fuel input to the process. Yet, the energy that is recovered from waste streams could displace part or all of the energy input needs for a unit operation within a plant. A wide variety of advanced market ready Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technologies and systems generate electricity and meet thermal energy needs (direct heat, hot water, steam, process heating and/or cooling) simultaneously, at the point of use. By contrast, conventional generation of electric power discards much of the heat generated during energy production, and conventional thermal energy generation often misses the opportunity to generate power.

Waste Energy Recovery offers a great and underutilized opportunity to productively use this energy, reducing overall plant energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is the “waste-to-watts” business opportunity. The production of efficient electric power, steam and cooling from low, medium and high temperature heat generated from the combustion of fossil fuels as well as heat from renewable energy sources such as solar and geothermal hear, or waste heat sources. Waste heat sources can be in the form of exhaust stack flue gases or waste heat from vented steam or steam discharged from steam turbines as well as hot water, hot oil or combined waste hear source. With Waste Energy Recovery, this “recycled energy” works to lower energy costs, and generate additional electricity, provide pre-heat, heating, or even air-conditioning. Fortunately, both profits and environmental quality can be improved by more carefully using energy. Energy has always been a significant component of industrial operations, but only rarely has efficient energy use been a priority when factories were being expanded. In today's business climate of higher energy prices and associated costs, maximizing energy use and minimizing pollution are more important than ever. A more focused approach to energy usage not only adds profits to the bottom line, but it also draws positive attention to the environmentally friendly policies of today's best businesses.

Discharging any heated fluid (air, water, etc.) into the environment is like floating dollars up your smoke stack or out your waste water pipe. Hot waste streams have been paid for with money that could have been profit. Most industrial processes currently in use were built during times when efficient energy use was not a priority. Today, it is a different scenario. The production of electric power from waste heat and renewable energy sources is a very viable opportunity to increase efficiency, provide energy security and reduce emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels. In reality, today’s fossil fuel plants are highly inefficient, and over 1000 coal-fired plants need to be retired or retrofitted due to their emissions footprint as a U.S. and global climate change regime comes into being. The name of the new energy game is efficiency. By recovering waste heat, which is essentially “found” energy, a power station or industrial facility not only reduces its emissions but also produces power without consuming any additional fuel. Additionally, the power plant or industrial facility does not consume any additional water resources. Waste Energy Recovery can increase overall plant efficiency and simultaneously reducing nearly all pollutants from the flue gas without the need to install multiple pollution reduction systems.

Key driver for energy industry is to focus on capturing these thermal inefficiencies and turning the waste energy into multiple revenue streams through its “waste-to-watts” business strategy.