High temperature industrial heat pumps utilising natural working fluids

Abstract

There is a large demand for heat typically in the temperature range 100-200⁰C in different industries. This is today often covered by fossil fuel burning or direct use of electricity. Heat pumps has to a lesser extent been utilized due to higher investment cost and limited availability of systems for these temperatures. With increasing focus on reduction of emissions and demand for improved energy efficiency the interest in development of high temperature heat pumps is increasing. Through the projects HeatUp and HighEFF the aim has been to develop heat pumps meeting the demands from industry utilizing natural working fluids. The results show that the natural refrigerants hydrocarbons, steam and fluid mixture ammonia/water all can be applied successfully to supply the required temperatures and demands within different applications. This is supported by experimental results. Economic feasibility of implementation in the industry under different conditions are evaluated and discussed depending on country. Keywords: Heat Pumps, Natural Refrigerants, Industrial, High Temperature, Energy Efficiency.