Industrial waste heat recovery from heat generating equipment in the manufacturing industry is a challenge as fossil fuels contain sulphur.  Recovery of waste heat using traditional technology will result in low temperature corrosion, which will lead to the premature corrosion of the installed waste heat recovery equipment.  This problem can be overcome by applying the super thermal conductivity property of heat pipes.   

In April 2005, the Chemical Engineering department of Temasek Applied Science School collaborated with Envirostar (S) Pte Ltd, a local company specialising in environmental engineering projects, to install a heat pipe waste heat recovery system for a palm oil refinery located at Pasir Gudang, Johor.

Heat pipes are basically vacuum pipes which contain a working fluid.  While the traditional mode of heat transfer in a heat exchanger material is by conduction, the novel construction of heat pipes allows heat transfer to be achieved through the evaporation and condensation of a working fluid.  This gives rise to the high thermal conductivity of heat pipes, which in turn offers versatility in the design of such heat exchangers to overcome low temperature corrosion issues.

The importance of such waste heat recovery applications have been increasing  recent years due to rising fuel costs which have prompted companies to exploit technology to conserve energy to remain competitive.

This project not only helped to conserve the environment, but has also led to substantial cost savings for the company.