New perspectives for industrial heat pumps

Heat pumps are an efficient and cost-effective solution for the generation of heat. They take up thermal energy from a low-temperature heat source and supply thermal energy at higher temperature to a heat sink. The use of a heat source (e.g. waste heat from industries or ambient heat from sea, lake, rivers or geothermal sources) enables heat pumps to generate much more heat with a certain amount of electricity, than a simple direct conversion of electric power to heat could do.

During the next years, heat supply will be electrified and decarbonized step by step, due to the gradual replacement of fossil-fired heat supply by natural gas, coal and oil. As the electricity generation is also decarbonized further in coming years, heat pumps will have more and more renewable electric energy available to achieve a CO₂ neutral heat supply.

Siemens Energy has a long-term experience with large scale heat pump solutions up to 95 °C and 30 MW of heat output per heat pump unit. Several industrial branches need heat pumps with even higher temperatures and heat output. Thus Siemens Energy developed new heat pump solutions and enhanced its heat pump portfolio to very high temperature and larger heat output up to 70 MW in one unit. Industrial steam requirements can be supplied by these heat pumps with or without additional steam compressors.

Heat pump solutions and possible applications for industrial hot water, steam supply and district heating are presented. Furthermore ongoing and future projects of large scale heat pump installations will be shown.