“Grasp industrial waste heat potential,” says large heat pump specialist
Blackpool-based Pure Thermal is calling on industrial businesses owners to consider the potential for waste heat recycling to reduce energy in their buildings, following the UK introduction of high temperature heat pump technology which can achieve outputs of up to 120 deg C.
The company recently was appointed as UK partner for Finnish manufacturer Oilon, which has a range of heat pumps with capacities from 30kW to 3000kW. The company, founded in 1961, has been building large heat pumps for 15 years.
Industrial heat could account for as much as a fifth of all carbon emissions, the company said, and gas and LPG boilers currently dominate, with around 85% of all installations.
Garry Broadbent Operations Director of Pure Thermal said;
The use of recycled waste heat has historically not been a ‘must do’ in the UK, but moving forward, the recycling of second-time-use zero-carbon waste heat must become the norm for UK users…It is clear that in the UK we have operated with low-cost mains gas for many years but these heat pumps provides industry with the opportunity to decarbonise higher temperature applications and also importantly to recycle waste heat – which is an economy that burning fossil fuels has obviously never offered.
Martti Kukkola Chief Business Officer for Oilon Industrial Heat Pumps said:
The UK market offers real potential for the Oilon Industrial Heat Pump range and the team at Pure Thermal are well placed to maximise this opportunity.
The potential is demonstrated by an Oilon project for Microsoft in Helsinki, Finland where data centre waste heat will be recovered for district heating. This will be the largest data centre heat recycling project in the world, Garry noted, and Oilon will supply an 80MW Combined Heating and Cooling (CHC) system, delivering both heating and cooling outputs at a total COP of 6.6.
He added that on a smaller scale, a building owner could have a 200kW waste heat recycling application within a single production plant, recycling 52-week waste heat from cooling systems, air compressors, hot production areas or process waste heat.
Garry added:
These heat pumps are also well-placed for application within two-stage air source heat pump systems, particularly where increased flexibility and higher temperatures are required in comparison to more standard water-to-water heat pumps – due to having the capability to operate with a wide inlet/outlet differential (7 deg C to 50 deg C Delta T).
The application of industrial heat pumps and waste heat recycling are both areas where Pure Thermal is set to add value by providing first stage concept and design support alongside the provision of equipment, he noted. This support is geared towards evaluating both system integration and identifying the practical carbon and cost benefits of applying an industrial heat pump for each specific application.
