Niro has introduced a heat recovery system that cuts heating costs throughout the production process.
The Niro heat recovery system works by re-using more of the heat generated within a plant that would be lost otherwise.
Hot condensate from the evaporator can be cooled in the pre-heater of the spray dryer. Heat exchangers can take advantage of high-temperature combustion air from the steam heater, hot oil unit or indirect oil heater to heat the air intake to the spray dryer.
Instead of releasing smokestack exhaust, it can be used to heat air in the pre-heater enabling the pre-heater to operate at a lower, energy-saving temperature.
These kinds of savings can be achieved through detailed analysis. If Niro has installed a plant originally it will probably already have this key information. If not, Niro uses its processing experience to determine a unique plan for each plant to streamline the flow of heat for maximum efficiency.
At the heart of the heat recovery system, is a new type of heat exchanger with a unique plate profile designed to reduce bacterial build-up and to aid cleaning in place of the system. With ordinary heat exchangers bacterial build-up during operation can easily be returned to the process during shut down when the airflow of the cooling system is reversed. Avoiding this build-up of bacteria through plate design and frequent CIP cycles helps prevent contamination. This is especially important for sanitary operations.
Once the parameters have been established, Niro will design an entire package and manage the project with minimal disruption right through to installation and testing. A heat recovery system can be built into a new plant or retrofitted to an existing plant.
With rising fuel costs Niro estimates that the pay back period for a heat recovery system can be as low two to three years depending on an individual plant's operating conditions.