Estudio de reducción y mejoramiento del sistema de energía térmica de una planta industrial-manufactura papelera.

Abstract

At the beating heart of every industrial plant lies a paradox: the very energy that drives production is distilled, like steam through our hands, in the form of waste heat. This research proposes a bold response to this everyday inefficiency: incorporating reverse osmosis—a traditionally aquatic technology—as a strategic tool to recover some of this forgotten heat and transform it into tangible energy value. It's not simply about filtering water, but about reimagining the role of this technology within industrial thermal systems. Through a redesign of thermal cycles and the use of osmotic gradients, this proposal presents a replicable model that can be adapted to multiple industrial contexts. It should be remembered that the city of Guayaquil, for years a benchmark in the country's industrial landscape, must now, with its expansion and its energy challenges on the horizon, not be left behind; it must be a benchmark in the living laboratory to test this idea. The results of this proposal project a potential 18% improvement in thermal efficiency, which translates not only into economic savings but also simplifies environmental impact and increases operational resilience. This research doesn't offer utopian promises, but rather a concrete tool to transform thermal waste into energy opportunities, and it does so by building bridges between engineering, sustainability, and strategy. Beyond statistics and numbers, this work invites us to rethink industrial paradigms. Everyone today is driven by technology, yet they fail to think critically about what appears to be waste, which is nothing more than energy waiting to be rediscovered.