Preliminary cost-benefit analysis for the heat pump application in industry

Abstract

Industry processes are characterized by large amounts of energy losses dissipated as waste heat to the ambient. In industry sectors analyzed in the US, China and EU28 low-temperature waste heat below 230oC makes up from 33% up to 60% of waste heat. The recovery of low-temperature waste heat is usually complex, affected by the user demand, mismatches between the waste heat source and the user demand, limited space for heat recovery facilities, the heat-power conversion is not efficient for low-temperature waste heat, payback period, etc. To address these in practice frequently met issues, this paper first briefly summarizes options on the low-temperature waste heat recovery. Then, user-friendly optimization methodology integrating the heat exchange, energy conversion and heat storage is presented.