Heat recovery from heating furnace carts
Heating furnace carts with waste heat from the tunnel furnace flue gases reduced gas consumption and saved 4.09 GWh of energy annually.
The challenge
In the construction industry plant, the tunnel furnace consumed large amounts of gas to heat the carts transporting the raw material. Each cold cart introduced into the furnace increased energy demand, causing additional operating costs and greater load on the installation.
The goal of the modernization was to reduce gas consumption in the tunnel furnace through waste heat recovery from flue gases and reuse of the energy.
Our approach
The DB Energy engineering team designed and implemented a solution including:
- construction of a closed channel with sandwich panels (with locks), accommodating several carts between loading and furnace entry,
- waste heat recovery from the tunnel furnace using a heat exchanger,
- transport of heated air to the channel, where it flows around loaded carts, raising their temperature,
- installation of a safety bypass controlled by dampers, which directs flue gases to the chimney if the exchanger is taken offline,
- partial utilization of the hot air stream from under the carts (after subtracting the energy directed to the burners).
The total recoverable thermal power amounted to 464.07 kW.
Solution
Preheating the carts before entering the furnace significantly reduced gas consumption by burners in the heating zone.
An additional effect was increased efficiency of the raw material pre-drying process – thanks to the ability to direct warm air from the channel over the dryer.
The investment cost amounted to PLN 1 million.
Results
Actions undertaken by DB Energy resulted in:
- annual energy savings: 4.09 GWh,
- avoided costs: PLN 655,600,
- increased efficiency of the tunnel furnace operation,
- additional support for the raw material drying process,
- improved energy balance of the plant thanks to waste heat recovery.
Conclusions
Waste heat recovery from flue gases and its use for heating furnace carts is an example of a solution that combines cost reduction with improvement of the entire technological process efficiency. The modernization allows significant reduction of fuel consumption in energy-intensive tunnel furnaces and better utilization of available energy resources.
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