PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Heating and cooling, for domestic, commercial and industrial purposes, account for half of the EUs energy consumption. In EU buildings, heating, cooling and hot water alone account for 79% of final energy use, but only 16% of related energy is generated from renewable sources. In order to reach the EUs climate and energy goals, the heating and cooling sector must drastically reduce its primary energy consumption and cut the use of fossil fuels. In particular,District Heating and Cooling (DHC) networks have significant potential for saving primary energy and, therefore, the decarbonisation of heating and cooling systems. However, DHC systems are largely an untapped source of energy in the EU. As confirmed by the EU Strategy on Heating and Cooling, industrial waste heat represents an important source of heat that can be fed into district heating to cover demand by consumers in the commercial or residential sectors.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE HEATLEAP project will contribute to the implementation of the EU Strategy on Heating and Cooling by improving the efficiency of heat exchange between energy-intensive industries and their surroundings, thanks to the use of a Large Heat Pump. The project team will demonstrate the technical and financial viability of this new system. The overall objective is to implement the following three innovative technologies suitable for different energy-intensive industries, to test them in a full-scale industrial environment and demonstrate their environmental and economic benefits:
Large Heat Pump with up to 7 MWth output, able to supply to District Heating systems temperatures up to 120 C and COP (a measure of energy efficiency) between 5 and 8; Gas Expander, able to recover waste heat from the decompression of Natural Gas from the grid and generate electricity in the range < 1 MWel; and A cloud-based software platform for system monitoring, allowing data acquisition and storage, real-time tracking of system effectiveness with respect to the targets, and data processing with AI algorithms for output forecasting. The project contributes to the implementation of the EU 2030 Climate and Energy Framework, including the EU Heating and Cooling Strategy, Energy Efficiency Directive, Emission Trading System Directive, Fluorinated Gases Regulation, and Air Quality Directive.
RESULTS
Expected results:
A range of waste heat recovery (WHR) solutions, customisable according to the requirements of the different energy-intensive industries and the type of waste heat able to recover more than 70% of the available source; Reduction by 5 750 tons the CO2eq plant emissions, by recovering 22 000 MWhth/year and feeding it into the production process, and by generating 2 000 MWhel/year, contributing to the implementation of the EU 2030 Climate and Energy Framework; Reduction by 99.7% of the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the working fluid used in the heat pumps, through the use of an innovative refrigerant, contributing to implement the Fluorinated Gases Regulation; Reduction of air pollutants from heating (e.g. coal/methane):NOx by 1 952 kg/year, SOx by 989 kg/year, Particulate Matter (PM) by 84 kg/year, contributing to implement the Air Quality Directive; Increased deployment of WHR solutions on DHC, contributing to implement the EU Strategy on Heating and Cooling; Positive social and economic impacts, by reducing the operational costs of industrial production, increasing the EUs industry competitiveness, and fostering the sustainability of jobs; Testing and monitoring the solutions effectiveness, limits and transferability to prepare its inclusion in the next Best Available Technique Document; Novel business models able to incentive the introduction of WHR solutions; and A software platform able to support business decisions and strategy.
