Application of Recuperator for Waste Heat Recovery From Exhaust Flue Gas in Hot Water Boiler in the Central Heating Plant

In general, the outgoing exhaust gasses are released to atmosphere at over temperature of the dew point of water vapor in waste gases. It is well known that recovering a portion of the waste heat enhances the efficiency of boilers and provides fuel savings. In this study, the potential of recovering waste heat emitted by the hot water boiler chimney in a central heating plant of a selected university was investigated. Energy losses were calculated for six months that the central heating system was in full-load operation. As a result of the calculation, it was determined that recovery of the waste heat can be employed as a combustion air preheater by means of a recuperator. It was stated that 53,768 m³ of natural gas savings per year (44.86 TOE/year) can be achieved with the suggested system.