A friend has a factory which produces waste heat and I was wondering if it is possible to recover this heat as electricity. The idea seems to make sense on paper from what we learned. It would be good to have some expertise from a company who actually manufactures these solutions.
So here are the specs I have.
3 chimneys each 8m tall diameter 0.8m made out of stainless steel called inox
Chimney 1 temp 80dC
Chimney 2 temp 190dC – this Chimney energy output has been calculated to 580 000kcal/h which translates into 700kw/h
Chimney 3 temp 400dC – this one is special as it exhaust highly corrosive fumes which cannot be redirected
All the energy recovered is going to be reused as factory is using MW of energy at any given time.
Running times are continuous for 11 months in a year which translates to 8000h/y.
Basic question is how much energy can be recovered? Is there a solution available on the market?
I was looking but there is only higher temperature (above 600dC) available called Solo Stirling. Company called MicroGen said they are working on low temp engine but so far nothing from them.
If there is anyone who would be up to challenge and construct an engine which recovers 10% of this energy from at least the hottest chimney I believe it would be economically viable and there would be financial and other support available.