Matching Boiler Exhaust Heat to Brewery Utility Loads

At this brewery, production is supported by pressurised hot water rather than by steam alone. Where flow rates are high, recovering exhaust heat into the hot water return can deliver meaningful fuel savings without changing the brewing process or replacing the existing boiler plant.

In this instance, the FLU-ACE™ recovers approximately 450 kW of low-grade heat from the hot water boiler exhaust, using it to preheat the hot water loop return, combustion air and boiler makeup water. By reducing fuel combustion, the project has cut annual CO₂ emissions by more than 1,800 tonnes. Lower fuel firing has also reduced NOx and other combustion-related pollutants, with FLU-ACE™ providing additional stack-side emissions control.

As boiler-side heat recovery arrangements evolved at the site, FLU-ACE™ continued to recover useful heat from the hot water boiler exhaust while retaining capacity for further heat sinks. This demonstrated its ability to integrate around existing and upgraded boiler-side assets as the site’s thermal system evolved.

Additional Heat Recovery Capacity

The installed FLU-ACE™ system delivered more than twice its guaranteed hot water recovery duty, while still retaining more than 750 kW of recoverable capacity within the existing configuration.

That creates a practical route for further optimisation as site demands evolve. Additional recovered heat can be directed to suitable heat sinks such as boiler makeup and feedwater heating, or to packaging-area air heating during colder months.

Before changing heat generation technology, breweries can reduce primary energy demand by recovering waste heat, improving steam-system performance and making better use of energy already available within existing thermal infrastructure. This lowers gas consumption and the associated Scope 1 emissions baseline, while ensuring future low-carbon heat systems are designed around a more efficient underlying thermal demand rather than avoidable losses.