Modelling heat recovery potential from household wastewater

Abstract

There is a strongly growing interest for wastewater heat recovery (WWHR) in Sweden and elsewhere, but a lack of adequate tools to determine downstream impacts due to the associated temperature drop. The heat recovery potential and associated temperature drop after heat recovery on a building level is modelled for a case study in Linköping, Sweden. The maximum temperature drop reaches 4.2 °C, with an annual recovered heat of 0.65 kWh · person^-1 · day^-1. Wastewater temperature out from the heat exchanger was 18.0 °C in winter at the lowest. The drinking water source type can be an important factor when considering wastewater heat recovery.