WinPro

German industry was responsible for 28% of Germany's final energy consumption in 2020, with 72% of process heat coming from fossil fuels. The energy-intensive chemical industry stands out in particular here, which also offers great potential for decarbonisation. The need to reduce the use of fossil fuels presents the industry with considerable technological challenges. One promising option is to use heat pumps to valorise existing waste heat streams. The WinPro research project is focussing on the development of methods for the use of high-temperature heat pumps in chemical production.

Objective

In the past, economic constraints stood in the way of the benefits of further systematic measures for heat integration using heat pumps. However, it can be assumed that the future and unavoidable increase in costs for the provision of fossil heat and improved alternative technologies will provide the opportunity for rapid substitution.

In order to find optimal solutions for specific processes and individual boundary conditions, the entire infrastructure at the site must be considered. Research in collaboration with the Ruhr University Bochum and Evonik Operation GmbH is focussing on the creation of a technology matrix and heuristics to provide decision-makers and planners with a powerful orientation tool. Experience from the investigation of a demo plant on the campus of the Fraunhofer IEG in Bochum will be utilised, as well as the real consumption data from the chemical parks of the associated partners.  Based on the consumption and process data from the operation of chemical parks, heuristics will be derived to standardise and facilitate the future integration of heat pumps. In order to integrate expertise from the plant engineering sector and to expand this with regard to heat pumps in the chemical industry, intensive cooperation is taking place with the industrial partner Atlas Copco Kompressoren und Druckluft GmbH. For detailed analyses, dynamic models of individual heat pump systems and their integration into the production processes are set up in order to identify optimal configurations and operating strategies.  

Final werden ökologische, ökonomische und technische Bewertungskriterien abgeleitet, um einen schnellen und erfolgreichen Hochlauf der Hochtemperaturwärmepumpen in der chemischen Industrie zu ermöglichen. Ergänzend wird eine Online-Datenbank bereits marktverfügbarer Anlagen implementiert, die es Nutzern erlaubt geeignete Produkte zielsicher zu identifizieren. 

Finally, ecological, economic and technical evaluation criteria will be derived to enable a rapid and successful ramp-up of high-temperature heat pumps in the chemical industry. In addition, an online database of systems already available on the market will be implemented, allowing users to identify suitable products with pinpoint accuracy.