Energy Saving and Compressors

Still within the scope of energy saving and sustainable production, companies are increasingly beginning to recover the heat generated by compressors. Suffice it to say that today, 10% of those who purchase compressors pay close attention to the issue of recovering dissipated heat. The heat produced by compression is almost always completely lost. To understand the extent of the heat loss, just imagine all the hours and years of compressor operation and the electrical power generated, together with the temperature range in the room. Based on these factors and their analysis, companies must decide whether it is cost-effective to start the heat recovery process. But what are the procedures for recovering compression heat? One way could be to channel the hot air expelled from radiators, which is used to cool the oil and compressed air, into adjacent rooms to be heated. In this regard, however, it should be noted that regulations limit this heat recovery, as they exclude the constant presence of personnel in the rooms where the hot air is converged. Unless the rooms where the air converges can be considered transit areas, and are therefore large enough. Clearly, this is a regulation that protects health and cannot be ignored. Another way to recover heat is from oil. All compressor manufacturers already offer a kit consisting of an oil-water exchanger, with a tube bundle or plates. Therefore, water is used as the carrier fluid instead of air. At this point, the hot oil from compression is passed through an exchanger and controlled by a thermostatic valve before reaching the radiator, where it transfers heat to the water without ever coming into contact with the oil. This latter system allows a large amount of thermal energy to be recovered, as it is directly proportional to the oil flow rate multiplied by the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of the exchanger.