Evaluation of applied the energy efficiency improvement methods in Poland's large industrial plant

Under the Kyoto protocol, many countries and international communities in general have ambitious targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Globally, industrial primary energy use and transformation for electricity and heat are responsible for 46% of greenhouse gas emissions. In Europe, the introduction of the Energy Efficiency Directive in 2012 has led to an increase in the number of Energy Efficiency Obligations - EEOs (also known as White Certificates or energy efficiency resource standards across Europe). 12 EU Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, UK) have active EEOs with another three due to start shortly (Croatia, Greece, Latvia and the Netherlands) considering their introduction. Due to this fact, in Poland, pro-efficiency investments are gaining in popularity. Industrial plant Bulten Poland S.A. dealing the production of fasteners for the automotive industry has a heat treatment department, which is the most energy-intensive part in the manufacture of screw products. For this reason, waste heat recovery has been used on the Aichelin hardening line. The heat recovery has been located on the oil bath and at the exhaust pipe from the gas burners. The recovered waste heat is captured by the buffer in the form of a water tank. The water is injected into the central heating system and used in the heating season to maintain appropriate temperatures in the halls and offices. The work presents an analysis of improving the energy efficiency of the Aichelin hardening line after installing waste heat recovery systems.