Heat recovery and heat pumping opportunities in a slaughterhouse

•A process integration study was performed for a large slaughterhouse.•Various projects were suggested to improve the plant's heat recovery system.•The opportunity to implement heat pump in slaughterhouse was analyzed.•The proposed options significantly reduced steam consumption and natural gas use.

Pinch analysis was employed to recover and reuse a part of the waste energy during the production and cleaning periods of a slaughterhouse in Canada. The INTEGRATION software was used to find possible options for HR (heat recovery). Several HR opportunities were identified in various systems of the slaughterhouse including boilers, hot water production, singeing, refrigeration, and barn air heating. A recommendation was also made to store more energy in the form of hot water. Opportunities for using heat pumps for additional HR were also investigated. The proposed projects can significantly reduce natural gas consumption in the steam and hot water boilers as well as in the air heating systems. It is shown that the proposed projects can reduce natural gas use by approximately half a million dollars per year.