In the business, we call them "Economizers". Often times our waste streams are needlessly hot and our input streams are too cold, so we'll have the 2 trade some heat to reduce out outlet cooling + inlet heating needs.
People have started doing the same thing with home water lines actually' pre-heat the cold water going to your water heater by taking heat from the shower drain essentially.
Also Town of Holland, MI uses waste heat for heated sidewalks in the winter.
Lots of ways to re-use heat if you look hard enough.
Source: 12 yr Chemical Engineer
JolietJakester t1_j1xf7k6 wrote
Reply to comment by xombie25 in Are exothermic chemical reactions a possible avenue for energy? Or is this done regularly today already? by xombie25
In the business, we call them "Economizers". Often times our waste streams are needlessly hot and our input streams are too cold, so we'll have the 2 trade some heat to reduce out outlet cooling + inlet heating needs.
People have started doing the same thing with home water lines actually' pre-heat the cold water going to your water heater by taking heat from the shower drain essentially.
Also Town of Holland, MI uses waste heat for heated sidewalks in the winter.
Lots of ways to re-use heat if you look hard enough.
Source: 12 yr Chemical Engineer