Applications - PRE-Heat Inc.

How Heat Exchangers Can Work for Your Business

Wednesday, 12 March 2025 by PRE-heat Team

Are you interested in learning more about air-to-air heat exchangers, but you’re not sure how they can work for your business? PRE-heat is here to help. In this blog, we’ll highlight the broad range of industries we work with most frequently. This way, you can more easily envision how PRE-heat air-to-air heat exchangers can fit into your facility.

Air Pollution

Air pollution is an output in nearly every manufacturing industry. In a world where more and more customers and government regulations are demanding greener practices, incorporating a heat exchanger is an easy switch to make.

Heat exchangers promote efficiency by reusing air emitted during manufacturing and repurposing it in other areas in the manufacturing process. More air is being used within your facility, and less is going out into the environment. If your business incorporates thermal oxidizers, catalytic oxidizers, selective catalytic reduction concentrator systems, or RTO secondary waste heat recovery, a heat exchanger is a must.

To see an example of PRE-heat’s work in limiting air pollution, check out our case study in which we worked with an artificial leather producer to enhance their pollution control system with a heat recovery unit containing a regenerative thermal oxidizer.

Food Production

Food production facilities demand strict temperature requirements to ensure that food products are not compromised. We have years of experience developing preheaters for dairy and supplement spray dryers, ovens, rotary dryers and many other drying and baking applications.

Preheaters are also a cost-effective solution for food producers. Our technologies can regulate emissions economically and efficiently, ensuring compliance with permit regulations.

Want to see our work in action? Read our case study featuring powdered egg producer Marriott Walker Corporation. We worked together to design and install a heat exchanger in their facility, all while causing minimal disturbance to their process and using all existing equipment. The result? Marriott Walker saved an average of 10% on fuel costs, or $133,056 in the first year after installing their PRE-heat heat exchanger.

Metals and Surface Finishing

Properly applying heat is crucial in the metals manufacturing and finishing industry. Heat exchangers give manufacturers more control over the air temperatures in their facility without breaking the bank on energy costs – in fact, you’ll save money with PRE-heat.

Our heat exchangers can also cool airstreams to suit your unique projects and metal materials. We can optimize your system to the specifications your process requires.

To see our work in use at a metal manufacturing facility, take a look at our case study. We designed a custom heat exchanger system wherein one heat exchanger captures the excess heat from the thermal fume incinerator for reuse, and another heat exchanger later cools the exhaust airstream to ensure optimal performance of the baghouse filtration system. Our client not only achieved substantial energy savings but also enhanced their operational efficiency.

Building Materials

Many machines in the building materials industry, like gypsum board dryers, carpet and floor tile dryers, and lumber dryers, emit significant amounts of heat. Don’t let that heated air go to waste – PRE-heat’s air-to-air heat exchangers can capture and reuse that air elsewhere in the building materials manufacturing process, thereby reducing the time and energy needed to maintain a required temperature and lowering energy costs.

We have done just that in our work with a leading drywall manufacturer. We designed a heat exchanger system that harnessed and reintegrated the substantial heat and water vapor emitted from their drywall dryer system. Read the case study to find out more.

Automotive

Automakers are starting to feel the pinch of environmental requirements. PRE-heat can take on much of that burden by reducing emissions and energy usage. Not only are air-to-air heat exchangers better for the environment, they will also save on your energy bills and create a more efficient manufacturing process.

Air-to-air heat exchangers can be incorporated into numerous areas of the assembly line, such as paint line heater boxes and the waste heat emitted by thermal oxidizers.

Mining and Minerals

Whatever metal or mineral your company works with, PRE-heat can develop a heat exchanger system to streamline your process, lowering your facility’s energy consumption all while creating more heat. Our air-to-air systems are frequently utilized with industry-standard processes like calciner combustion air and calciner process air.

Alternative Fuels

Global energy usage is on the rise, and alternative fuels are emerging to meet the demand. PRE-heat is here to support this growing industry with dryer preheaters for biofuel manufacturing and oxidizer fume preheaters.

Our heat exchangers are extremely versatile in biofuel manufacturing, managing high temperatures, pressures, and vapors. They can also be utilized in fume abatement equipment and preheating dryer air. Heat exchangers are frequently used with ethanol plant RTO secondary dryers and battery oven dryers.

Combustion Air

In industry, achieving optimal combustion efficiency while minimizing environmental impact is crucial. Air-to-air heat exchangers paired with boilers, thermal oil heaters, and heat treat furnaces can ensure that your facility’s combustion air is logically utilized, resulting in cleaner operations and compliance with environmental regulations.

Start Your Heat Exchanger Project

No matter what industry you operate in, PRE-heat has the expertise to develop and install an innovative air-to-air heat exchanger system for your business. Start streamlining your processes and saving energy today. Contact us today to start your project.