Heat pumps are squeezing gas and oil out of homes and commercial buildings, and now they will also be squeezing industrial operations.

Industrial heat pumps are on the verge of becoming your fossil fuel

Electric heat pumps have been driving fossil fuels out of buildings and homes as electricity has also replaced oil and gas to heat, cool, heat and dry laundry. This is just the tip of the iceberg of electrification. Hard-to-decarbonize industries are the next step in the clean energy transition, and the U.S. Department of Energy is getting involved.

The heat pump tsunami has begun

CleanTechnica has been splashing ink on electric heat pumps, which are common in parts of the United States with mild climates. Recent improvements in the technology have expanded the range of heat pumps to include colder areas as well.

In addition to heating and cooling systems, heat pumps are also beginning to appear in hot water tanks, clothes dryers, and electric vehicles.

Last week, Heat Map reported that heat pumps surpassed conventional furnaces for the second year in a row, according to data compiled by the Institute of Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration.

"While shipments in the data are technically defined as 'when a unit transfers ownership,' it is a rough analogy to sales," the heatmap states. "AHRI's 2023 statistics, released on Friday, show that despite a decline in overall shipments in 2023, heat pump shipments are 21% higher than gas furnaces and up from 12% in 2022. ”

Wait until the real estate market picks up. As observed in the heat map, installing a heat pump in a new building is a relatively simple exercise. Remodeling older homes can pose financial challenges, but new multi-state efforts aimed at supporting the technology could help make an economic case for electrifying older homes, and new funding from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 should also come into play.

Energy-as-a-Service model, heat pump version

The energy-as-a-service model can also help bring the transition to a climax by eliminating upfront purchase prices. This business model works in the area of energy efficiency, where owners can get efficiency upgrades without having to bear the burden of upfront funding the full cost of equipment and installation. The contractor bears this burden, as well as the operating and maintenance costs, which are repaid progressively by the customer. If everything goes according to plan, the overall result is a decrease in the customer's utility costs due to efficiency upgrades.

To gain some insights, we turned to Europe, where startup Aira is selling air-to-water heat pumps in an energy-as-a-service model.

"At Aira, we now have a new way to pay for our heating and hot water systems, making them affordable. With our all-inclusive plan, you will have a brand new air-to-water heat pump with installation and a 10-year comfort guarantee including service, repairs and parts (terms apply) starting from €57 per month*; The cost may be lower than your current gas bill – you never have to pay again," the company explained.

Aira means that switching from a gas boiler to a new scheme can reduce heating costs by up to 40%. For the sake of the green cake on ice, CO2 emissions could be reduced to zero if the electricity from which the operating system is powered by renewable sources.

Aira has already built a factory in Poland to meet the expected demand, and investors are eager to get involved. "Overall, Aira received €195 million in equity financing and grants, providing a strong foundation to support its ambitious long-term growth targets," Mr Aira said.

Hard-to-decarbonize industries aren't so hard anymore

So much for residential and commercial buildings. One of the trickier jobs is the application of heat pumps to heavy industry. With the help of green hydrogen, the steel industry is starting to decarbonize, but other sectors are more stubborn.

Industrial systems can require much higher heat than light systems, and the U.S. Department of Energy has the answer. Last month, the agency's Office of Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization paid $171 million to support 49 different projects that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources, with some of the funds earmarked for industrial-scale heat pumps. Here's a quick rundown.

Echogen Power Systems: This company specializes in the recycling of industrial waste heat. It was awarded a $3 million grant to develop an air source heat pump capable of reaching more than 300°C, with the goal of reducing lifecycle carbon emissions by more than 90% compared to gas heaters.

They will do this by utilizing one of our new favorite themes, supercritical CO2 cycles. "The supercritical CO2 cycle enables a high coefficient of performance and high process temperatures without the need for waste heat recovery, while the high density and heat capacity of the fluid can reduce the size of the heat exchanger," the Department of Energy explained.

The application of supercritical CO2 for decarbonization purposes is a new field, but first-tier companies including Shell, Reaction Engine, Avery Dennison, Goodyear, Mars, TotalEnergies and Unilever have all partnered with Echogen on the project, suggesting good prospects for commercial adoption.

Trane Technologies: Trane is another leading industry stakeholder committed to decarbonization. It has partnered with solar HVAC company iAIRE and North Carolina-based company Phase Change Energy Solutions to participate in a project led by the University of Cincinnati. The partners will use a $1.4 million grant to develop "prototypes of high-efficiency industrial heat pumps using phase-change material thermal energy storage, intermediate cooling, and wet compression technologies."

Green potato chips heat pump

Trane also received a $3 million grant along with the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Radiator Coil and PepsiCo's R&D divisions. The University of Texas at Dallas is leading the project, which aims to develop a "super condenser" that recovers waste heat from the frying process of potato chips in the form of 125°C steam. This is much higher than the operating margin of a typical heat pump.

"Due to the presence of oil droplets and volatile organic compounds, it is difficult for current heat exchangers to effectively condense waste heat. The proposed technology could recover and utilize waste heat from the frying process to replace natural gas burner heating technology," the Ministry of Energy noted. As an added green bonus, the system can also recycle water.

Another way to manage waste heat is to not generate waste heat in the first place. To that end, electric boiler company AtmosZero and its partners – Colorado State University, engineering firm Danfoss, International Flavors & Fragrances and United Energy – will allocate $3.1 million to develop a system that can produce 200°C steam and 0°C cooling.

The U.S. Department of Energy has anticipated widespread impacts and said the system "will replace traditional fossil fuel-heated boilers and enable decarbonized steam production in any case without the need for waste heat utilization."

More and better materials for heat pumps

Given the prominent role Texas has played in the renewable energy revolution, it's no surprise that the University of Texas has appeared more than once in the latest funding round. The university's Austin campus has received a $1 million grant from the Department of Energy's Office of Advanced Materials to develop a new "semi-metallic thetata phase tantalum nitride" material for high-temperature operation.

The latest heat pump news is the MIT Technology Review, which gives heat pumps a #9 position on their list of breakthrough technologies in 2024.

"Global sales have increased; In the United States, for the first time, they surpassed gas stoves, "the Massachusetts Institute of Technology notes. "New types that operate at higher temperatures also contribute to industrial decarbonization. ”