Heat Recovery from Wastewater The Case Study of Amsterdam

It has been demonstrated that thermal energy can be recovered from the wastewater due to its high temperatures. Since the wastewater temperature is higher than the air temperature, it becomes a valuable source of energy. The heat gained can be used in different activities (e.g. heating and cooling houses, pre-heating domestic or regenerating heat recovery systems). In recent years, technologies for exploiting this potential have been continuously improved in Switzerland and Germany. These technologies consist in installing heat exchangers in the sewer system connected to a heat pump in order to supply recovered heat to a specific customer. The principal objectives of this research are related to see if this type of system can be applied in a city like Amsterdam. (1) Identify potential zones for heat recovery from wastewater in Amsterdam; (2) Quantify the available heat on the sewer system and (3) make a first approximation for a business case of the technology in one of the selected zones. The expected results of this project aim to establish whether or not a heat recovery system in the city of Amsterdam is economically feasible.

Autorentext

Civil Engineer from the Universidad Javeriana (Colombia). Master of Science in Civil Engineering for Water Management at the Politecnico di Torino (Italy).Experience working in different fields involving water sciences, such as hydrology, hydraulics, water treatment and energy from water.