Way To Go Green dot org

I remember growing up and seeing the cooling ponds from the local power plant give off steam in the winter.  As a young child I thought it looked cool. Today I think what a waste. There are numerous accounts of waste heat just literally being wasted. Some of the processes that produce waste heat are fuel combustion or chemical reactions. Large amounts of heat are generated for different purposes in boilers, kilns, ovens and furnaces. Not all of the energy is recoverable but a good portion is and should be.

There are many well know heat exchangers in use today. One of the best-known but not knows is in most automobiles.  The heat produced by the vehicles engine is cooled by water. Running it through the radiator disperses the heat into the air thus cooling the water, which cools the engine.  Most people are not aware until it leaks, is that this same coolant water is inside the passenger compartment. Yes that heating core inside your car that keeps you warm in the winter months is successful recovery and use of waste heat.

There are also present today waste heat boilers that convert the hot gases from boilers, channel it to a turbine, and produce electricity.  Unfortunately this supply of energy is not always sufficient and auxiliary heaters are needed to drive the turbine.  But with research and investment a more efficient way will be found.

There are many other ways to conserve, reuse and recycle what we use around us. Just because it has been named waste does not mean it is worthless or useless.

One company that I have visited on other business is the Graham Manufacturing Company in Batavia, NY.  This company makes large scale industrial type heat exchangers for waste heat recovery.  http://www.graham-mfg.com/

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