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Industrial Furnace Flue Gas Heat Recovery with Heat Pipe (Case Study)

A steel-treatment furnace exhausts 55,000 m3/h of 250 C flue gas. EN159 recovered heat with a heat-pipe unit to preheat combustion air and process streams.

The Challenge

Furnace flue gas at 250 C carried very large heat. Preheating combustion air cut fuel sharply, but the gas was hot and dusty, needing high-temperature recovery.

Why Heat Pipe Air-to-Air Recovery

At 250 C with dust, a heat pipe gives separated-stream recovery with high-temperature alloy walls and no rotating seal to foul. Welded stainless plate is the alternative. Rotary wheels are excluded due to fouling and temperature.

The EN159 Solution

EN159 heat-pipe modules, 55,000 m3/h, combustion air preheated from 25 C to 180 C, high-temperature alloy walls rated to 300 C, 4 degree tilt, dust prefilter.

Measured Results

  • Recovered heat: about 1.8 MW
  • Combustion air preheated from 25 C to 180 C
  • Furnace fuel cut by 21 percent
  • Estimated payback: 14 months

Compliance and Selection Notes

Heat-pipe recovery, high-temperature alloy, separated streams, prefiltered. Rotary wheel excluded for hot, dusty flue gas.

Frequently Asked Questions

Temperature rating?

The alloy walls are rated to 300 C, covering 250 C furnace exhaust.

Why no rotary wheel?

Dust fouls wheel seals and 250 C exceeds typical wheel limits; separated heat-pipe recovery is used.

Related Guides and Tools

Heat Pipe Heat Exchangers · Boiler Flue Gas Heat Recovery · Industrial Waste Heat Recovery · Combustion Furnace Waste Heat · Contact EN159

Get a Site-Specific Recovery Estimate

Talk to an EN159 application engineer about your industrial furnace exhaust stream. Call 15753355505 or visit our contact page for a site-specific recovery estimate.

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