Steam heated polyester production process

Processes for making polyesters in a polyester production facility are disclosed, that include the steps of: forming a reaction medium comprising at least one monomer that includes terephthalic acid (TPA) and/or an ester derivative of TPA; subjecting at least a portion of the reaction medium to one or more chemical reactions in the polyester production facility to thereby produce the polyester; generating high-pressure steam having a pressure of at least 5 megapascals; heating one or more process fluid streams of the polyester production facility by indirect heat exchange with the high-pressure steam, wherein the process fluid streams include any stream that is formed predominately of the reaction medium and/or the at least one monomer; heating a heat transfer medium (HTM) via indirect heat exchange with the high-pressure steam to thereby form heated HTM; and heating at least a portion of the process fluid streams by indirect heat exchange with the heated HTM.