It's all about saving money. Where some people see exhausts stacks and hot water discharges, our engineers see hundred-dollar bills being burned in a furnace or flushed down the toilet.  Where environmental activists see ugly smoke stacks and unsightly waste water pipes, our engineers can't stand the sight of all that money flowing out of those pipes.

Fortunately both profits and environmental quality can be improved by more carefully using energy.  Energy has always been a significant component of  industrial operations, but only rarely has efficient energy use been a priority when factories were being expanded.  As long as a factory or product line was profitable, very little attention was usually paid to efficient energy use.   In today's business climate, maximizing energy use and minimizing pollution are more important than ever.   Fortunately a careful approach to energy not only adds profits to the bottom line -- it also draws positive attention to the environmentally friendly policies of today's best businesses.

 

Savings

So how big are the potential savings?  The answer is, "That depends."  If a process was built without making efficient energy use a top priority, then it is very likely that significant savings can be achieved.  Achieving those energy savings is a difficult engineering challenge.  Fortunately, we can estimate the possible savings by inspecting your processes and analyzing various energy saving options.  Unfortunately, as much as we wish we could, responsible engineers cannot give your company an accurate estimate before inspecting your processes.

Discharging any heated fluid (air, water, etc.)  into the environment is like floating dollars up your smoke stack or out your waste water pipe.  Hot waste streams have been paid for with money that could have been profit.   A good way to start thinking about reducing this waste is to find out how much of a priority efficient energy use was when the process was built.  Most industrial processes currently in use were built during times when efficient energy use was not a priority.  Today it is.
 

American Stirling Company

American Stirling Company entered the waste heat recovery consulting business as a result of our Stirling engine expertise.  Since Stirling engines can run on any heat source, it was natural to consider using Stirling engines to recover power from industrial waste heat sources.  Stirling engines make economic and technical sense in some situations; however they are only one of  many possible methods for profitably reducing energy use.  Our engineers have over 25 years of combined engineering consulting experience.  We have expertise in Stirling engine design, waste heat recovery, thermal plumes, environmental analysis, heat exchangers, aircraft systems, fluid flow, fluid measurement, CFD and experimental methods.

American Stirling Company engineers will work closely with your in-house engineering or technical staff.  We can identify identify your energy waste and suggest profitable ways to reduce that waste.  Our fresh perspective helps us see good solutions quickly.  Our work on processes ranging from medical waste incinerators to asphalt hot mix plants has made us confident that the combination of our expertise plus your in-house technical talent often leads to a quick and profitable solution.
 

Getting Started

Should your company consider an energy saving/waste heat recovery program?   Generally speaking companies that are spending more than $10,000 per month on energy are likely to find significant benefits.  The higher your company's energy use, the more likely that an energy-saving/waste heat recovery program will be profitable.  However, companies spending between $2,000 and $10,000 per month may still achieve attractive savings thanks to new technology. 

If you think an energy-saving/waste heat recovery program might make sense for your company, please e-mail us and ask for our free Energy Survey Form.  We will then send you a short list of questions to help determine whether your company should consider an energy saving/ waste heat recovery.  Please call the phone number on the Contact Us page below and ask for Brent Van Arsdell.

Note:   Innovative financing methods have been developed which may make it possible for cost savings to flow immediately to your company's bottom line.  Contact us for details.