Recycling waste energy just made sense…

• A metalwork plant built its own heat capping and recycling solution
• A simple, clever system to channel waste heat in- or outside the plant depending on the season and temperature outside
• Initial investment could be recouped within a year

Spiess Blechtechnik is an well-established iron and metalwork company based in Bavaria, Germany.

Several machines in the plant, especially the laser system and the emboss-laser-combo system and compressors require cooling. Spiess saw an opportunity to reuse the heat produced during production to maintain temperature in its buildings. Heated air was redirected through sheet-metal ducts to help cool the plant’s interior during summer, and reversed the flow in the winter to save on heating costs.

The changeover between summer and winter operation is done manually. As sheet-metal specialists, Spiess was able to build the ducts and channels in-house, which saved time and money. It took about one week to install the recycling system on each machine.

Spiess Blechtechnik expects to recoup the initial costs of installation rather quickly (potentially in the first year).

Key benefits

The benefits of the measures include annual cost savings of up to 75 % for the company but also a lighter carbon footprint due to reduced energy consumption.

This recycling approach can be an effective resource-saving tool especially for companies that generate a lot of heat in their production and experience extremes in temperature from season to season.