September 2024: Identifying a waste heat source as an alternative to an air source or a ground source, significantly increases the systems Co-efficiency of Performance COP, a lower electricity input for the heating demand.
Waste heat - water source high temperature heat pump, picture courtesy Enerblue srl.
When retrofitting a high temperature heat pump into an industrial process that requires heat at temperatures above 75 ºC, an Air Source Heat pump will provide an average annual system COP of approximately 2.0 for an all-year-round manufacturing process. Alternatively collecting heat from a waste heat source instead of the air around the heat pump significantly increases the COP. Depending on the waste heat source, density, flow and temperature COPs can increase above 4.0, this offers significant operational cost savings whilst meeting heat decarbonisation targets.
The potential sources of waste heat recovery for the input to a Heat Pump system include, industrial drying processes, compressed air systems, cooling towers, refrigeration chillers, low temperature exhaust ducts and effluent water from chemical processes.
Where there is a lower or intermittent waste heat source Heatcatcher can design and install a dual source system, recovering from both a waste heat source and an air source. For example, Heatcatchers technology partner Pure Thermal provide a unit capable of 185 kW of hot water at 80 ºC heat with an option to install the evaporator (heat collector) directly into the flow of a low temperature exhaust duct or a free-flowing warm area such as an air compressor room. When the heat is not available the heat pump unit operates as a standard Air Source Heat Pump.
Enerblue srl dual source heat pump, picture courtesy of Pure Thermal
With heat from industrial processes accounting for 14% of the UK’s carbon emissions high temperature heat pump technologies will play a key role in fuel switching to electrification. The use of waste heat as a source input to heat pump systems greatly increases system efficiencies and improves return on investments. The integration of these heat pump technologies requires the expertise of companies such as Heatcatcher to assist industry to integrate these Heat Pump technologies into new and existing industrial processes.