Study 40 – Flue gas treatment as a means of industrial heat recovery

Energy recovery from polluted flue gases is relevant to a significant number of industrial operators that generate waste heat, particularly in the food and drink industry (ovens, deep-fryers, cooking, drying), the materials industry (lime, tiles and bricks, insulation, glass) and the metals and engineering sectors (paint lines, smelting, heat treatment).

This study provides an overview of the current state of the art in flue gas treatment solutions on their own, as well as treatment solutions that incorporate heat recovery.

The report focuses on seven heat exchanger technologies, the advantages and disadvantages of which have been summarised in technical data sheets. Some of these have already been analysed in ALLICE’s previous work, whilst three of them are the subject of new data sheets for an in-depth assessment:

• Cascade of heat exchangers with flue gas treatment
• Glass heat exchanger for acid fumes
• Polymer heat exchanger for low-temperature polluted flue gases

In order to enrich these fact sheets with data drawn from the actual operation of flue gas treatment systems, the study incorporates three case studies:

• Flue gas treatment and heat recovery at an oil and natural gas refinery
• Flue gas treatment with heat recovery in the brick and tile industry
• Flue gas treatment with heat recovery at a waste incineration plant