A vast majority of industrial buildings and processes still rely predominantly on fossil fuels for generating heat and / or steam. Most also utilise traditional cooling technology as part of their process. This often means that surplus heat is rejected, so both energy and money are being wasted.
As businesses set specific and time bound targets for more sustainable and efficient ways of generating heating and cooling, industrial heat pumps can provide a sustainable, efficient and economically viable alternative to these traditional systems whilst reducing energy consumption, cost and greenhouse gas emissions.
What are Industrial Heat Pumps? How Does a Heat Pump Work?
Heat pumps are common in other parts of the world such as Scandinavia but are only recently becoming more widely adopted in the UK. Advancements in technology have led to increased efficiency, temperature, performance, and scalability. The improving range of products in the market provide more options to engineer a good fit for a business’s process heating and cooling demands.
Heat pumps take energy at a low temperature and upgrade it to a temperature where it can be used (or vice versa in the case of cooling). They are powered by electricity to compress (heat) and then expand (cool) a refrigerant. The attraction of a heat pump is its efficiency; for every kW of input electricity the heat pump delivers up to 3kW of heating (and potentially 3kW of cooling where required). They can be used for heat only applications but are most efficient when applied to simultaneous heating and cooling loads (for instance in food processing where a product is cooked and then chilled).
In conjunction with heating and cooling loads, heat pumps work well when combined with heat recovery solutions to maximise the heat already available on the site / process that is otherwise being wasted.
Heat Pumps: drivers for change
As industry seeks to reduce its carbon footprint there are a number of reasons why the integration of heat pumps will likely become more widespread, and play a major role in reducing industrial emissions to help meet the net carbon zero targets set by either the government or their own organisations:
- Sustainable power is becoming a larger part of the UK’s generation capacity via wind and solar. Switching from fossil fuel to electricity is becoming easier and has a lower carbon footprint as reliance on coal and gas fired power stations reduces.
- Government grant incentives like the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund contribute towards the capital investment for eligible projects, making the business case for decarbonisation more attractive.
- Energy efficient systems can help reduce the risk associated with energy price volatility and therefore reduce operating cost.
- Heat pumps make a material and substantial reduction in Co2 emissions. Reductions in the range of 50% – 90% are not uncommon depending upon the type of project and the processes on site.
- Higher temperature heat pumps are becoming more available, widening the scope of application into process heating / cooling that was not practically possible before. The costs of this technology are also reducing as more development takes place.
- In most cases, modular heat pumps can be easily integrated into a site’s existing heating / cooling infrastructure. Where this is not possible bespoke equipment can be designed and manufactured to meet specific requirements.
- Wider availability of natural refrigerant heat pumps means that F-Gas Regulation compliance will be easier and more efficient by adopting reversible heat pump technology. This provides a solution to potential chiller legacy issues as well as reducing fossil fuel consumption.
Decarbonising Your Business
If you are searching for innovative solutions to decarbonise your industrial heating processes to use more efficient and sustainable energy, Evonic can help.
Our approach is to learn about your business to identify your specific needs and devise a suitable solution. With many years of experience in the energy services market, working within the industrial and public sectors, we have the expertise to advise on the best decarbonisation solutions for your business, particularly replacing fossil fuel reliant systems with industrial heat pump technology.
In addition to designing and facilitating low carbon energy systems for industrial organisations, we can also help you bid for government funding, such as the Industrial Energy transformation Fund, which was launched to support process led businesses in decarbonisation.
Talk to us today to learn more about the importance of heat pumps for a sustainable future and to discuss your energy needs and decarbonisation plans.
