A waste heat recovery system is an energy recovery heat exchanger that recovers heat from a hot gas stream. It produces steam that can be used in a process (cogeneration) or used to drive a steam turbine (combined cycle).

The market size of waste heat recovery system (WHRS) was USD 42.64 Billion in 2015 and is projected to reach USD 64.23 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 6.83% between 2016 and 2021. In this report, 2015 is considered as the base year and the forecast period is between 2016 and 2021.

The steam & electricity generation application segment dominated the WHR system market in 2015. The market in this application is also expected to witness the CAGR between 2016 and 2021 owing to growing demand for energy in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The growing construction industry in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific countries such as China, Japan, and India also drive the market in this segment.

The WHRS market is classified based on end-use industry into petroleum refining, metal production, cement, chemical, paper & pulp, and others. The market is dominated by the petroleum refining end-use industry. In this industry, WHRS is used for various processes such as distillation, thermal cracking, catalytic, and treatment. Cement is the fastest-growing end-use industry of WHRS. The most energy-intensive process in the cement industry is clinker production in kilns. The applications of the waste heat recovered from stack exhausts, combustion exhaust gases, and other sources include preheating and power generation.

Currently, Europe is the largest WHR system market, in terms of value, closely followed by North America. North America is expected to witness a moderate growth rate. Some of the factors driving the North American market are stringent government regulation regarding energy saving and energy efficiency, and incentives provided by the governments, including tax rebates. The region is characterized with continuous technological innovations in the WHR industry and presence of some of the major players in the region.