Looking for options to reduce carbon emissions in your plant? Learn about the benefits of industrial heat pumps.
The industrial sector accounts for more than 20% of global carbon emissions, with about two-thirds attributed to heating. With the majority of the energy for heating provided by fossil fuels, manufacturers need to switch to cleaner options to reduce their carbon footprint.
One option is industrial heat pumps, which are similar to residential heat pumps but provide higher temperatures, typically 265°F. Moderate IHP deployment in industrial sectors with high process-heating demands could annually save up to 32% of net energy use and carbon emissions, resulting in a reduction of natural gas use by ~300 to 400 TBtu per year, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
Potential advantages of industrial heat pumps include:
- Three to five times more efficient at low and medium temperatures than traditional boilers.
- Coefficient of performance (ratio of process heat delivered to input energy required) greater than 1.
- Paybacks under two years (where the price of electricity is similar to that of natural gas).
- Cooling capability, reducing capital expenditures.
- Lifetime of 15 years, resulting in significant savings.
- No energy losses when waste heat recovery is used.
- Modularization capability, improving process control and resiliency during power outages.
- Stabilizes the power grid when combined with thermal energy storage systems.
Applications for industrial heat pumps
The food and beverage, pulp and paper and chemical industries are promising candidates for switching to heat pumps. According to McKinsey estimates, these industries represent approximately 15% of global energy-related industrial carbon dioxide emissions.
For instance, small local breweries usually require temperatures from 50°C to 120°C at a capacity of less than one MW, making them suitable for industrial heat pumps. A 650-kW heat pump was recently installed at the Fort Collins, CO headquarters of New Belgium Brewing. Half of New Belgium’s direct greenhouse gas emissions — about 4,100 tons of carbon dioxide per year — comes from burning natural gas to make steam.
Heat pumps are a key focus of the Department of Energy’s Industrial Heat Shot program. Federal tax credits and incentives available for heat pump implementation include 48C tax credits and implementation grants. Federal funding can also be combined with any state or local incentives available. Plus, check out rebates from APS.
Heat pumps are getting hotter
Recently, several high-temperature heat pumps (up to 400°F) have been developed with a coefficient of performance greater than three that also use environmentally friendly synthetic refrigerants or natural refrigerants. Even higher temperatures are being pursued, ranging from 480°F to 930°F, by heat pump manufacturers. These higher-temperature heat pumps could potentially meet about 70% of industrial process heating needs and eliminate approximately 20% of total carbon emissions from manufacturing, according to ACEEE.
For more information, see Industrial Heat Pumps from ACEEE.