A heating system uses solar energy and software to help factories cut carbon emissions and replace gas boilers for industrial process heat.
Researchers at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) have developed a software platform and a solar-assisted heat pump system that could help factories reduce emissions from industrial heating. In a field trial, a 300kW system installed at a food processing plant in Gimpo, South Korea, operated for more than 18 months and reduced carbon emissions by about 44% compared with a conventional gas boiler. The researchers said the system, designed to replace fossil fuel-based industrial boilers used for process heat, could also recover its cost in around three years.
The technology combines two systems: the Industrial Thermal Energy Optimization Platform (iTOP), which helps industries select the most suitable heat supply system for a specific site, and the Solar Heat Pump Industrial Process Thermal Energy System (SoHProtes), which provides high-temperature process heat using solar thermal energy and a heat pump.
According to the researchers, replacing a 1-tonne-per-hour industrial gas boiler with the new system could avoid more than 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over its operating life. The technology is intended for industries such as food processing, chemicals, paper and textiles that require process heat below 200°C.
The iTOP platform compares more than 21 heat supply options by analysing factors such as process temperature, heat demand, available land, waste heat, location and operating patterns. It evaluates technologies including gas boilers, electric boilers, electrode boilers, high-temperature heat pumps, solar thermal systems and combined heat and power (CHP) systems before recommending the most suitable equipment and system configuration.
The SoHProtes system addresses one of the challenges of industrial heat pumps, which often depend on waste heat as an energy source. By combining solar thermal energy with a heat pump, it can supply high-temperature process heat even at sites where waste heat is limited or unavailable.
The researchers say the integrated approach could help industries avoid oversizing or undersizing heat supply systems by allowing technical and economic performance to be assessed before installation.
