Maximizing Efficiency on Thermal Exhaust Streams
Reciprocating engines and gas turbines have low thermal efficiency when operating without heat recovery. The low thermal efficiency (typically 45% for engines and 35% for gas turbines) results in high exhaust gas temperatures. The lower the efficiency, the higher the exit gas temperature—making gas turbines exceptionally strong opportunities for adding heat recovery.
To increase heat recovery on reciprocating engines, jacket water cooling can be integrated directly into the heat recovery loop. Power generation from heat recovery can add 7% to 10% output at no additional fuel cost. In regions with high electricity or fuel costs, this supplemental power provides substantial financial value, with typical payback for a "bottoming cycle" heat recovery system for engines or gas turbines occurring in under 5 years.
Increased Efficiency with Multiple Engines in Parallel
Gas turbines and engines frequently operate in multi-unit parallel arrangements. There is significant economic benefit to ducting the exhaust of multiple sources into a common boiler or centralized heat recovery device to optimize capital investment and thermodynamic efficiency.
AirClean provides optimized, complete system designs—including custom bypass systems, ducting configurations, and equipment specification—backed by a comprehensive performance wrap-around guarantee to ensure target economic paybacks are reliably achieved.
Industry-Leading Thermal Innovation
As an industry-leading innovator in waste heat recovery, AirClean Energy is highly experienced and fully equipped to develop custom engine and gas turbine heat recovery solutions engineered specifically for your facility's operational demands.