Integrating an industrial heat pump
Integrating an industrial heat pump uses electricity to upgrade low-grade waste heat into useful process heat, displacing fuel-fired heating. Because it delivers several units of heat per unit of electricity, a well-matched heat pump can decarbonise low-temperature process heat at attractive running cost.
What it is
An industrial heat pump takes heat from a low-temperature source — waste warm water, exhaust, ambient — and raises it to a temperature a process can use, driven by electricity. Integration means finding a suitable low-grade source and a coincident heat demand, and connecting them through the heat pump.
Why it is done
A heat pump's coefficient of performance means it moves more heat than the electricity it consumes, so where low-grade waste heat and a moderate-temperature demand coincide, it can deliver process heat more cheaply and with far lower emissions than burning fuel — especially as grids decarbonise.
How it is done
A low-grade heat source and a process heat demand are identified and characterised for temperature, quantity and timing. A heat pump is selected for the required temperature lift — the smaller the lift, the higher the efficiency — and integrated with buffering to handle mismatched timing. Controls manage the source and sink, and performance is verified against the displaced fuel.
- Find low-grade source
- Match heat demand
- Size temperature lift
- Select heat pump
- Add buffering & control
- Verify vs fuel
What to watch for
Demanding too large a temperature lift collapses efficiency and economics. Mismatched timing between source and demand, without buffering, leaves the heat pump idle when it is needed most.
Related practices
Switching a boiler from fossil fuel to biomass
Electrifying process heat
Implementing an ISO 50001 energy management system
Related topics
Waste Heat Recovery in Industry: Methods and Where It Pays · Heat Exchanger · Net Zero · Specific Energy Consumption (SEC)
Common in: Food Processing · Dairy · Chemicals · Brewing & Beverage · Pharmaceuticals