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Are there any good options for commercial kitchen heat recovery?

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nuuvox000

Mechanical
Sep 17, 2019
344
I don't see how it would work very well with the grease in the air but just thought I'd ask in case some genius came up with a good system. Thanks!
 
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I'm not aware and the grease (and the legal requirements for cleaning) really make it impractical.

Even if you could find a way to use an ERV that can be cleaned from grease (doubtful), the layer of grease will immediately reduce effectiveness and any moisture transfer. If anything, we only talk about sensible heat recovery since any material that lets moisture diffuse likely is impossible to clean. Maybe a runaround coil loop with wide fin spacing could be made to work and be cleaned. But they are not effective to begin with and you likley have messy cleaning to do all the time. And that is before we talk about any JHA approving. Maybe if you have a system with frequently disposable grease filter (carbon etc.) upstream of the HX, but that would add a lot of disposal and filter cost and add pressure drop. If an application requires filtering anyway (odor control etc.), then that may be something to research.

Even if upfront money is no object, kitchen exhaust is an energy issue I have no solution for.
 
You could use the air conditioning compressor feeding the kitchen ceiling system to blow heat into the restaurant instead of sitting outside...

I guess those filters need constant cleaning though....

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.
 
A few years ago I designed and built a grease catcher using rods installed in the ductwork. It was then possible to use a standard heat recovery system with glycol.

* Finding a solution is great * Knowing how to implement it is fantastic * Believing it is the only one and best is naive ?
 
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