Potential industrial applications for direct contact waste heat recuperator systems. Final report. [Waste heat streams 175 to 750/sup 0/F]

A study of the potential industrial applications of direct contact waste heat recuperator systems has been conducted. This study examines the prospects for the use of direct contact waste heat recuperator systems in the major energy consuming industries excluding only the petroleum and chemical industries. Four potential applications have been chosen for economic analysis. They are: (a) stack gas from diesel electric generation, (b) boiler stack gas, (c) waste heat stream from the hydraulic cement dry process dryer, and (d) stack gas from the fire polishing of glass. The waste heat streams studied ranged from 175 to 750/sup 0/F. A physical analogue of the direct contact waste heat recuperator system has been devised and used for costing purposes. Payback calculations are performed for these applications. Only the stack gas from the fire polishing of glass failed to show significant economic promise. A waste heat stream regime of greater than 10,000 cfm and between 400 and 750/sup 0/F has been identified as most economically promising for direct contact waste heat recuperation and hot process water delivery.