A Heat Recovery System at Dungannon has reduced carbon emissions by over 1,000 tonnes. In the factory warm water has numerous important uses including defeathering birds, crate washing, factory cleaning and hand washing. The site consumed in excess of 250 million litres of warm water in 2011, enough to fill almost 100 Olympic size swimming pools. As part of an ongoing investment programme to reduce our environmental impact a new heat recovery system was commissioned in November 2010. This system recovers heat normally wasted to the atmosphere from the site's largest refrigeration system, to preheat warm water. This 'free' energy reduces the amount of fuel burnt through the factory boilers to heat the site's warm water.
In order to ensure this new system continues to perform, it has been connected to a site wide monitoring package. This allows continuous monitoring of water flows, temperatures and can even alert staff of any faults. Whilst a considerable initial investment, the site has now reported that this project has delivered on its investment through oil usage reduction.
