What does heat recovery aim to improve in power engineering systems?

Heat recovery is a process used in power engineering systems to capture and reuse heat that would otherwise be lost, thereby improving system efficiency. By recovering waste heat from exhaust gases, cooling water, or other processes, the overall energy output of the system can be increased without the need for additional fuel. This reuse of energy leads to a reduction in fuel consumption, as less energy is required to produce the same amount of output.

Enhancing system efficiency through heat recovery can contribute to reducing operational costs and decreasing environmental impact, making it a critical aspect of modern power engineering design and operation. While improvements in fuel consumption and system reliability can be side effects of enhanced efficiency, the primary objective of heat recovery is to maximize the efficiency of energy utilization in the system. Water quality is generally not affected by heat recovery practices, as it deals more with thermal energy management than with the chemical characteristics of water.