Description
Erlus AG is the leading manufacturer of roof tiles and chimney systems in Germany.
Since tile production generates considerable amounts of energy in the form of heat, our office was commissioned in January 2013 to prepare a study on the feasibility of possible energy utilization. To this end, the load profiles of kiln lines 3, 4, 5 and 6 were examined in more detail and the air consumption and temperatures of the associated dryers were measured.
The most economical option for waste heat utilization turned out to be heating the hot air for brick drying on line 5. Previously, hot air from the kiln (exhaust gas-free) was used to dry the bricks. However, the volume flow is too low to be able to dry the bricks completely. At a certain point, fresh air must be fed into the dryer. As this causes the temperature in the dryer to drop, additional heating must be provided with natural gas. According to the planning by Gammel Engineering, the fresh air is drawn in before a heat exchanger and heated with the help of the exhaust gas heat from the kiln This use saves around 97% of the natural gas previously required