Sustainable and efficient heat pump development for combined process heat and cool - SkaleUp

Heat pumps offer the unique possibility to utilise low temperature heat source efficiently to supply thermal energy at a usable temperature level by applying only a fractional amount of renewable electricity. Current temperature limits for industrial heat pumps are however around 90'C, which is limiting industrial and large-scale applications. Demands for process heat between 100'C and 200'C are estimated to 508TWh/year on European basis (equivalent energy consumption of about 25.000.000 Norwegian households). Therefore, high marked demand and acceptance is expected to decarbonise process heat production, increase energy efficiency and implement renewable electricity. The underlying idea of SkaleUp is to develop a novel, proven heat pump concept into a universal industrial system that supplies process heat which is up to now mostly supplied by fossil fuel-based energy carriers or via direct electricity use without utilizing waste heat. This will result in a sustainable utilisation of available energy sources and an efficient system integration into industrial production processes. At the same time the greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced significantly by the developed technology. SkaleUp achievements until 2020 are: i) the development of a flexible industrial scale high temperature heat pump for process hot water production. The project is focusing on the application of robust and compact key components and was operated about 5050 hours within the project. ii) Infrastructure for thermal and electric connections were established at the industrial site. Focus was tuned to HSE, reliable supply of process heat and flexibility. The pilot heat pump with 300kWth heating and up to 150kWth cooling capacity was installed in a 10 foot container. However, an installation in machinery room is also possible. iii) In June 2021 the HTHP was successfully commissioned utilizing water chilling as heat source and operated 14 weeks in this mode. After November waste heat form refrigeration plant dry coolers is utilized for 32 weeks. iv) Both operation modes give CO2-emission savings on the order of 50% to 60% using electricity as reference heat source. Compared to natural gas as heat source the CO2-emission savings are in the order og 90% to 95% using CO2-lean Norwegian electricity mix. Skala Fabrikk AS is project owner and the industrial partners are TINE SA, Cadio AS, Officine Mario Dorin S.p.A. and SINTEF Energy Research is coordinating the project. Contact: Christian.Schlemminger@sintef.no and Atle.Monsas@skala.no

SkaleUP has developed implemented and tested an industrial high temperature heat pump (HTHP). This HTHP can use low grade heat sources down to -20°C and deliver up to 115°C process hot water, by using environmentally friendly and future proof natural refrigerants. Results and knowledge of KPN HeatUP and FME-HighEFF were the ground for this successful development. As main result a HTHP was build and integrated at TINE dairy Tunga in Trondheim, Norway. It was commissioned in summer 2021 and operated, in total 5050 hours during a 10-month period. Two different operation modes using 1) ice -water and 2) waste heat from the existing refrigeration plant as heat source we tested. The HTHP can produce process cold, i.e. ice-water at 0°C and process heat, i.e. pressurized hot water at 115 °C, simultaneously. In these conditions the supply capacities are about 134kW ice-water and 280kW pressurised hot water. For the second operation mode the heat supply is about 330kW of pressurised hot water. The integration in the diary indicated a utilisation of 55% and 72% for the ice-water and waste heat mode, respectively. To maximise the utilisation of the HTHP the knowledge of heat source and sink characteristics are key. The reduced energy consumption for simultaneous ice-water and process hot water production or solely process hot water production of the HTHP, compared to the direct electric heating was 55% and 57%, respectively. This includes saving due to lower use of the existing refrigeration plant during the ice-water production mode. CO2-emission reduction potential is dependent on the reference case. For the dairy with direct electric heating with Norwegian energy mix in the order of 53% to 56%. If natural gas is used as main heat source on the reference case the CO2-emission saving increase to 93% to 95%. By substituting an oil/diesel fired heat supply system the reduction is in the order of 97%. These results indicate a large implementation potential for industries using pressurised hot water as heat distribution media, such as food production sector, paper production, fabric and cloth production. Further, waste heat from data centres can be upgraded to temperature levels of district heating networks. The flexibility of the SkaleUP industrial HTHP allows application in new build or as retrofit installation.

SkaleUp aims to develop a sustainable, cost and energy-efficient process heat supply hereby replacing fossil fuel based, thermal energy systems. The technology will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the industry by 97%. Typical industrial applications are foreseen in food processing, but can also be applied in other sectors, where process heat is required in a temperature range of 90'C to 115'C. SkaleUp will develop and demonstrate an innovative, proven heat pump concept into a universal, modular industrial energy system. The SkaleUp heat pump supplies process heat up to 115'C while simultaneously providing cooling at 0'C (concept a) or utilizing low temperature waste heat (concept b) efficiently. This will result at the same time in energy savings of more than 50% and each unit will save approximately 1 GWh energy per year or the equivalent energy consumption of 50 households. SkaleUp aims to demonstrate the feasibility of the innovation in an industrial environment. The heat pump will only use environmentally friendly natural working fluids with no global warming potential. Demands for process heat between 100'C and 150'C are estimated to 172TWh/year on European basis (equivalent energy consumption of about 8.500.000 Norwegian households). Therefore high marked demand and acceptance is expected also due to the competitive cost target of 5000NOK/kW for the heat pump. SkaleUp responds to the ENERGIX 2018 thematic priority area 4: Energy consumption and conversion for the industry area by providing new knowledge for more energy-efficient production processes as well as better utilisation of waste heat.