Tapping Hidden Energy: Unlocking Thermal Energy from Wastewater

Industrial facilities, large commercial buildings, and wastewater treatment plants all have something in common: they use or process significant volumes of water, which quickly becomes wastewater but still carries valuable energy. 

In May, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Southcentral Onsite Energy Technical Assistance Partnership (DOE TAP) hosted a webinar titled “Unlocking Wastewater’s Thermal Potential: Energy Recovery for Efficiency, Cost Savings, and Emissions Reduction”.  Guest presenter Nathan Madding, Director of Green Building Solutions at HUBER Technology, shared technical insights about real-world project examples of extracting and utilizing thermal energy from wastewater. 

This image shows the HUBER system used to extract thermal energy from wastewater by converting it into useful thermal energy.

Participants were guided through:

• The thermal energy potential in wastewater and why it’s ideal for energy recovery 

• How state-of-the-art heat exchangers and heat pumps are used to recover and deliver usable thermal energy 

• Case studies demonstrating successful integration of WETTM into industrial, commercial, and district-scale energy systems 

Every day, the U.S. produces more than 34 billion gallons of wastewater. Nate Madding highlighted how wastewater maintains relatively stable temperatures (50 to 59°F) year-round, making it well-suited for energy recovery using water-to-water heat pumps. This waste thermal energy is already being captured by operational Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) or 5th generation district energy systems in the U.S., replacing or just supplementing traditional boilers and chillers and, most importantly, reducing the energy cost for the end user. 

Watch the full webinar recording here. 

If your organization is exploring onsite energy solutions, the DOE’s Onsite Energy TAPs can provide no-cost technical support across all project phases from planning and feasibility to system design and implementation. The TAPs support 12 onsite energy technologies, including district energy, CHP, and waste heat to power, among others. HARC | Houston Advanced Research Center is the host organization of the Southcentral Onsite Energy TAP in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. Contact us to benefit from a no-cost technical assistance and other services, and learn how onsite energy can help your organization reach your operational cost, efficiency, and resilience goals.