Your guide to industrial heat pumps

The industrial sector currently accounts for one third of global CO2 emissions. And out of those, around two thirds are used for heating (according to McKinsey).

This means that industrial heating is responsible for more than 20% of global CO2 emissions!

Something needs to change.

Industrial heat pumps currently only supply around 5% of global industrial heat. But with their ability to produce zero emissions (as well as their economic advantages), they have real potential to be the industrial sector’s lifeline.

Here’s all you need to know.

What are industrial heat pumps?

Industrial heat pumps are heat pumps with power sizes beyond 200 kilowatts thermal (kWth).

In this way, they’re designed to handle the industrial sector’s large and highly specific requirements for heating and process heat.

Unlike other sectors, the majority of heat used in industry is in process heat – industrial and manufacturing processes often use heat for a multitude of different purposes, from cooking to curing paint.

Industrial heat pumps can recover waste heat and increase its temperature so that it can be used again in the process, or for other purposes such as heating offices. This is known as heat recovery.

As well as being good for the planet, reclaiming excess energy in this way is also a fantastic way to reduce utility costs.

In fact, industrial heat pumps can provide 3-5x more heat energy per unit of electricity consumed than traditional heaters.

Plus, they can provide heat at higher temperature ranges than residential heat pumps (in some cases, up to 200ºC!). And they can reach capacities beyond ten thermal megawatts (MWth).

All this is a clear indication that industrial heat pumps aren’t just a useful tool for decarbonisation, but are an effective and efficient heating method in their own right.

Typical use cases

Industrial heat pumps can be used in all sorts of different applications and use cases.

A few that are particularly well-suited to heat pump use include:

• The food and beverage industry
• The pulp and paper industry
• The chemical industry
• District heating

We’ve pinpointed these areas mainly because they have relatively high energy-related emissions (and in most cases, high energy demands).

In other words, abating carbon emissions in these areas could make a significant difference when we look at global decarbonisation.

However, most industries could benefit from a heat pump in some way. Which brings us onto…

What are the benefits of industrial heat pumps?

Industrial heat pumps come with so many advantages, both for the industries that adopt them and for the planet. These include:

• 3 or 4x more efficient than traditional boilers
• Lower energy consumption
• Lower operating costs
• Eco-friendly
• Futureproof
• Long lifespan

It’s also worth noting that, contrary to popular belief, heat pumps can usually be retrofitted in existing buildings without a huge amount of disruption.

Read our guide to the major heat pump benefits to find out more.

The future of industrial heating

Although industrial heat pumps can no longer claim to be a new technology, they’re certainly not commonplace in industrial settings.

In fact, they currently only supply around 5% of global industrial heat.

However, their benefits are definitely starting to be recognised more widely – especially in the light of recent trends such as the push for decarbonisation, regulation, incentives and economic factors such as the energy crisis.

As governments issue more regulation and incentivisation for heat decarbonisation, and more and more companies make net-zero targets, we can expect the market for industrial heat pumps to skyrocket over the next decade.

Here are some figures from McKinsey’s Global Energy Perspective 2023:

• The global market for heat pumps is predicted to grow by more than 15% each year until 2030
• Industrial heat pumps are likely to supply more than 10% of global industrial and district heating demand at temperatures below 200°C by 2030
• In the EU-27 and the UK, heat pumps are expected to be responsible for around 15% of total district heating and 20% of industry heating processes for temperatures up to 200°C in 2030
• Global investments for industrial heat pumps are expected to reach $12 billion by 2030

Currently, most investments in industrial heat pump installations go towards small-to-medium-sized applications (up to five MWth) and temperatures between 80°C to 100°C.

However, as time goes on and the technology continues to evolve and prove itself, larger-scale industrial heat pumps (over five MWth) with temperatures exceeding 100°C are likely to garner increasingly large portions of investment.

Likewise, district heating is predicted to capture a third of the industrial heat pump market by 2030.

Key considerations for industrial heat pumps

When it comes to industrial heat pumps, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Rather, every application will have its own unique requirements and considerations.

Performance

Industrial heat pumps are a highly efficient heating technology.

However, there are lots of different heat pumps on the market with different components. These can have a big bearing on a heat pump’s performance.

The most important include the compressor, heat exchangers and control software:

Compressors

Compressors are often considered the most important component when it comes to performance.

A heat pump’s compressor determines the flow rate of the refrigerant, as well as the efficiency of the compression process – basically determining how much heat energy can be loaded into the refrigerant.

In this way, they’re a very complex part that often accounts for 20-30% of the hardware cost of a single heat pump.

Heat exchangers

Heat exchangers are responsible for transferring heat from the refrigerant to the water that’s used to heat a building or provide heat for a process.

These are often adapted and tailored to the needs of larger heat pump applications.

However, technology is constantly evolving and recently, plate-and-shell heat exchangers have attracted attention. These combine the efficiency and compactness of plate heat exchangers – but without gaskets.

Control software

Industrial heat pumps have strict requirements that they have to meet in terms of efficiency – known as coefficient of performance (COP).

Often, efficiency is monitored constantly and OEMs can be penalised if they don’t meet minimum COPs.

For this reason, control software is hugely important for industrial heat pumps.

At Clade, most of our heat pumps are remote monitoring enabled so that our team of engineers can monitor your heat pump and make improvements to their operation and performance – as well as recommending preventive maintenance.

Heating and cooling

Most industrial heat pumps are used to provide heat.

However, they have the potential to provide cooling as well, when properly designed with this dual purpose in mind.

Having one system that can provide both heating and cooling can be particularly useful in industries that require both heating and cooling during production – such as breweries in the food and beverage industry.

Similarly, offices could use the same industrial heat pump to provide heating in the winter and cooling during the summer.

However, perhaps one of the most exciting opportunities is to create synergies between different end users. For instance, one heat pump system could be used to cool a data centre, before reclaiming the waste heat for use in district heating networks – doubling its impact.

Thermal storage

As more and more of our energy is provided by renewable sources such as wind and solar power, the volatility of power supplies is increasing.

Pairing heat pumps with thermal storage systems provides an opportunity to help stabilise the power grid.

This is because heat pumps can store excess energy by heating up the storage system. And thermal storage systems such as water tanks cost significantly less than storing electric energy in batteries.

Over time, combining heat pumps and thermal storage systems in this way could provide all sorts of opportunities – for instance, district heating could turn into a source of backup energy for electric networks.

This would also help to decouple supply and demand, lowering the price of electricity when demand is high.

Customisation

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to industrial heat pumps.

Rather, every application will have its own requirements – and industrial heating applications will also have different requirements from district heating applications.

Usually, finding the right fit will come down to factors such as:

• Temperature requirements
• Capacity requirements
• Output
• Physical size
• Integration into existing equipment

With that in mind, an off-the-shelf solution will rarely meet requirements.

Rather, heat pumps will need to be customised or modified to meet the end user’s needs.

Often for industrial end users, there are two key priorities:

1. Reliability. End users typically seek to minimise downtime so that they can ensure a continuous production process.
2. Economics. End users look to optimise the cost of heat.

Achieving these things will look very different depending on the application, which is why specialised knowledge and expertise is key when it comes to the design and installation of large heat pumps.

This has historically been a challenge for the heat pump industry, as OEMs often have limited knowledge of use cases, while end users often have limited knowledge of heat pump technology.

That’s why at Clade, we provide an end-to-end service – from design to manufacture, installation and even maintenance.

In this way, our team of experts can take into account each end user’s specific requirements from the very beginning to ensure that our industrial heat pumps get the results our clients need.

In fact, we even offer a performance guarantee – if your heat pump doesn’t meet the performance guaranteed following installation, commissioning and a 6-month run-in period, we’ll refund you the cost of the heat pump and remove it from site!

Refrigerant

There are many different refrigerants, each with different qualities.

The best refrigerant for your equipment will depend on all sorts of factors, such as the required temperature, regulations and safety considerations.

However, there are two main groups: natural refrigerants and synthetic refrigerants.

When we talk about synthetic refrigerants, we’re mainly referring to harmful F-gases such as HFOs (hydrofluoro-olefins) and HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons).

These refrigerants typically have very high global warming potential (GWP) – often of several thousand.

Plus, they release forever chemicals known as PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which pollute groundwater and accumulate in the environment.

For this reason, more and more businesses are turning away from synthetic refrigerants in favour of natural ones.

Natural refrigerants are clean, non-toxic, low GWP and have zero ozone depletion potential (ODP).

This makes them a must for businesses looking to switch to a heat pump as a sustainability initiative. But it also protects businesses from tightening F-gas regulations – ensuring that the industrial heat pump doesn’t become a stranded asset in the near future.

Natural refrigerants are widely available, low-cost and highly efficient, making them a no-brainer solution.

Learn more about Clade’s industrial heat pumps

At Clade, we have three industrial heat pumps suitable for a wide range of industrial uses.

Plus, we offer an end-to-end service, which is unique in the heat pump industry.

That means we can design, deliver, install and maintain your industrial heat pump to ensure it’s fully customised to your needs and performing as efficiently as it can be.

In fact, we’re proud leaders in the industry for sustainability and innovation and our industrial heat pumps are a result of many years of experience developing efficient, environmentally friendly solutions for our clients across a range of industries.

Get in touch with our team of experts today to learn more.