Waste heat recovery in a coffee roasting plant

The paper presents the possibility of introducing, in the event of substitution of an old plant, the recovery of heat produced during the roasting process of coffee. During the analysis, thermo and fluid dynamic operating parameters of the present plant were defined also with the support of an experimental measuring campaign. Energy recovery possibilities were, then, evaluated and a possible plant solution was examined taking into consideration its economic feasibility. The case study is also interesting because the methodology used for the analysis can be generally applied to production plants, which have hot air exhaust emissions. Waste heat recovery, actually, is an important topic not only for its economic benefits, but also for its environmental outcomes and resource saving.