Abstract
This study examines the research landscape on the recovery and utilisation of low-grade waste heat (RU/LGWH) through bibliometric analysis and literature review based on publications indexed in Scopus from 2008 to 2022. During this period, a total of 135 publications and 4,759 citations were recorded in RU/LGWH research. Publications trends showed that high publication rates and scientific interest in the topic were largely occasioned by efforts to achieve humanity’s quest for cleaner sources of energy and net zero emissions. The most prolific researchers, affiliations and nations are Sheng Yang, Central South University and China, respectively. The observed dominance of Chinese-based researchers and institutions is ascribed to research funding available from funding organisations/programmes such as the National Natural Science Foundation, among others, that account for 6 out of the top 10 funders of RU/LGWH research. High rates of collaboration between countries (RC = 69.23%) compared to authors (RC = 54.05%) were observed during social network analysis. Hotspots analysis revealed that RU/LGWH research has been majorly focused on three core areas: Energy Recovery and Management (ERM), Economics and Efficiency Assessment (EEA), and Exergy and Performance Analysis (EPA). As such, the various stakeholders have devoted significant resources to exploring and exploiting the technological feasibility, economic viability, and thermodynamic performance of LGWH. Despite the enormous progress recorded, selected grey areas still exist, and we opine the prospects of the field greatly lie in finding solutions to these research gaps.