Design and development of a database to identify and evaluate waste heat recovery opportunities

The continuous search for energy efficiency in the industrial sector, driven by the need to reduce polluting atmospheric emissions and the increase of fuel prices, has made waste heat recovery systems one of the most promising research areas in the last decade. Heat recovery at low temperatures (below 230 °C) is mainly investigated for industrial applications. Despite a large amount of waste heat available at this temperature, the introduction of heat recovery technologies is limited by the lack of proper knowledge about different existing solutions and their application in similar contexts. Therefore, to overcome these limitations, this paper describes the development of a database to provide a comprehensive view of all relevant projects and technologies available for waste heat recovery. The work here presented is the result of the first year of a three-year research project, whose final aim is to provide innovative tools to support companies in identifying, analyzing and evaluating thermal recovery opportunities. Through a systematic literature review, the most used technologies and methodologies in low-temperature heat recovery have been identified. From these results, a preliminary version of the database has been defined, containing the classification criteria and the most useful information to be retained in order to characterize both technologies and projects. This database will represent a key element to develop a comprehensive methodology, that starting with the evaluation of energy flows in the organization, will then allow the identification of heat recovery opportunities applicable in the specific case. In the next years, in collaboration with the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, the proposed tool will be consolidated with the involvement of the important stakeholders.