Waste Heat Recovery from Compressed Air

Almost every kilowatt a compressor draws becomes heat. Around 90% or more of the input electricity leaves through the oil cooler, the aftercooler and the machine's casing, at temperatures genuinely useful for space heating and hot water. On most sites this heat blows out of a louvre into the sky while a gas boiler heats the building next door. Compressor heat recovery is among the most reliable retrofits in industrial energy management, and this lesson covers where the heat is, the two ways to catch it, and the demand-matching that decides whether it pays.