Industrial Heat Pumps

[Diborane]

Hi all,

I recently read a paper on industrial heat pumps by the DOE for applications other then just environmental heating/cooling.

http://www.p2pays.org/ref/32/31234.pdf

The paper whet my appetite for possible applications of the technolgy and I started playing around with some numbers. I found one application in the 15 MMBTU range taking a low heat-grade effluent stream to heat another stream which currently uses a steam heat exchanger.

Based on steam and electricity costs and a 0.5*COP efficiency the closed cycle mechanical system would have some signifigant savings.

The question then comes to how much is the capital cost of this system which the paper gave a very large range ($50,000-$200,000 MMBTU).

The paper also says that these projects are all custom built.

Who are the top three or four suppliers for equipement for this type of application in this size range? My search of google didn't turn up to many leads.

Best Regards

 

[willard3]

Use a search engine and look for "geothermal heat pumps" or "water-to-water" heat pumps.

I have used heat pumps for domestic water, boiler feedwater and processes that don't require very high temp water.

 

[nh3iceman]

Depending on your requirements, the systems are custom engineered to meet the demands. I've worked on several of these; sewage effluent to space heating (~140F water) and just finishing up one for 170F water supply.

These are essentially a "regular" refrigeration system, using a refrigerant that can accomodate high emperatures and reasonable pressures.

 

[KiwiMace]

I've used McQuay water/water heat pumps for making domestic hot water from a condenser water heat source. Check with them.