Thermal Energy’s Hybrid FLU-ACE system is an advanced direct-contact condensing stack economiser with an integrated, fully modulating burner. This allows it to operate both as a high-efficiency heat recovery unit and an on-demand hot water generator.
During production, the system captures waste heat from the facility’s singer stack to meet hot water needs. Surplus energy is stored in a buffer tank for use during peak periods, such as nightly washdowns. This reduces the requirement for synchronicity of the waste heat source and the waste heat user, enabling the system to adapt as the site’s main heat source while multiple hot water demands operate independently or simultaneously throughout the day.
Previously, the facility relied on conventional hot water boilers resulting in substantial energy losses. The Hybrid FLU-ACE system eliminates this inefficiency by prioritising recovered heat and automatically engaging its high-efficiency burner when additional energy is required.
By using recovered energy to meet most of the hot water demand - especially during non-production hours - the system has dramatically reduced the need for boiler operation. Combined with improved efficiency, this has delivered fuel savings well beyond what efficiency gains alone would typically achieve.
The system:
- Recovers 2,500 kWh/day from the singer stack
- Heats 80 m³ of water daily from 10°C to 60°C
- Reduces exhaust temperature to 34°C
Fully fail-safe and redundant, the system ensures operational continuity. In the unlikely event of a disruption, the original heating systems resume operation automatically.
The integrated burner adds further flexibility by delivering rapid, high-efficiency heating when demand exceeds available recovered energy, consistently outperforming conventional steam-to-hot-water systems.
The customer’s Production Manager said:
We should be on track [to save] close to 75% on gas for heating the water compared to last year’s figures. [That’ll] be a great result.
