Investigation of the Possibility to Implement a Heat Pump for the Recovery of Heat From Process Cooling Water
(2024) KETM05 20241Chemical Engineering (M.Sc.Eng.)
- Abstract
- This report aims to investigate the possibilities to implement a high temperature heat pump at a Dow facility in Landskrona. By implementing a heat pump, waste heat from the production can be recovered and reused in the process. The question at issue is whether there will be enough energy available when needed due to an intermittent process, and if a heat pump will be feasible to implement. To investigate the possibilities, the energy availability in the different parts of the process was determined. A simulation of a heat pump for the process could then be executed in Aspen Plus. Furthermore, the intermittency was analyzed as well as the feasibility. The heat pump market was analyzed and different options of for example refrigerants were... (More)
- This report aims to investigate the possibilities to implement a high temperature heat pump at a Dow facility in Landskrona. By implementing a heat pump, waste heat from the production can be recovered and reused in the process. The question at issue is whether there will be enough energy available when needed due to an intermittent process, and if a heat pump will be feasible to implement. To investigate the possibilities, the energy availability in the different parts of the process was determined. A simulation of a heat pump for the process could then be executed in Aspen Plus. Furthermore, the intermittency was analyzed as well as the feasibility. The heat pump market was analyzed and different options of for example refrigerants were discussed. From the simulations, it was concluded that a heat pump of approximately 0.46 MW in heating and 0.31 MW in cooling capacity is best suited for this process, and will create the needed hot process water as well as cool off the cooling water. Ammonia was chosen as the best refrigerant option due to a suitable temperature interval and small environmental impacts. It is determined that a heat pump can be adapted to the intermittency since storing of hot process water is possible. For a heat pump unit with the heating capacity of 218 kW recommended by a company, the investment could possibly be feasible on a 3.5 year payback period, but this is only if the facility can increase the yearly production on account of the heat pump and thus increase the ROI. With these conclusions, there is a need for further investigation and evaluation of especially the intermittency and possibilities to shorten the production times to increase the profitability. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- -Reusing Process Energy-
Currently, factories are cooled by emitting heat into our atmosphere. By implementing an industrial heat pump, it is possible to reuse that energy instead.
This project was done at Dow Chemicals in Landskrona, where components used in paint are produced. This is a type of industry with a lot of components that are not entirely kind to the environment, but consumers still need the products. Therefore, all measures should be taken to make the process as environmentally friendly as possible. One way of doing that is to minimize the amount of energy used in some steps of the process by reusing the energy from other parts of the process. This can be done by using a heat pump.
An industrial heat pump works... (More) - -Reusing Process Energy-
Currently, factories are cooled by emitting heat into our atmosphere. By implementing an industrial heat pump, it is possible to reuse that energy instead.
This project was done at Dow Chemicals in Landskrona, where components used in paint are produced. This is a type of industry with a lot of components that are not entirely kind to the environment, but consumers still need the products. Therefore, all measures should be taken to make the process as environmentally friendly as possible. One way of doing that is to minimize the amount of energy used in some steps of the process by reusing the energy from other parts of the process. This can be done by using a heat pump.
An industrial heat pump works similarly to a household heat pump. It uses electricity, and with the help of a refrigerant, it takes heat from one source and sends it to another source in need of heat. This works because the refrigerant is compressed, which increases the pressure. Due to the work of thermodynamics, the heat increases as a result. The heat pump in a household will send out heat suitable for living, but with bigger compressors, higher temperatures can be reached. This can help industries to take heat from a 20 ℃ cooling water and create process water on the other side of the heat pump at 95 ℃. Following this, the cooling water will be chilled, and therefore there is no further need to cool it off into the atmosphere. This is a win for both the environment and the wallet.
The investigation was done for the plant in Landskrona, and it was concluded that the energy balance between the energy needs and the energy available is sufficient. There is enough energy available to create and store enough hot water so that the process can run. But an investment like this is very expensive. It might be possible to make it profitable at the Landskrona plant, but it would need several adjustments. This is mostly due to the fact that in Sweden we can use district heating, which is effective and very cheap. District heating can be used for the majority of the heating needs, and thus a heat pump which uses the more expensive electricity, is not easily profitable. But cheap district heating is not very common and something rather unique for Sweden. Globally, natural gas is used which is more expensive and especially not environmentally friendly. Therefore, an investment like this should be able to be implemented with less requirements on profitability in other countries such as France and the USA.
For the investigation, a simulation of a heat pump combined with a simulation of the process facility was used to create results. The simulation was done in the software Aspen Plus, which uses unit boxes to create a working flow sheet. Other results were produced by analyzing data from the facility. The main conclusion drawn is that more analysis is needed for good investment and implementation in Sweden, but an investment should not be written off yet. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9165746
- author
- Ekenberg, Ida LU and Söderberg, Ida LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- KETM05 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- chemical engineering, heat pumps, heat recovery, process design
- language
- English
- id
- 9165746
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-20 14:07:43
- date last changed
- 2024-06-20 14:07:43
@misc{9165746,
abstract = {{This report aims to investigate the possibilities to implement a high temperature heat pump at a Dow facility in Landskrona. By implementing a heat pump, waste heat from the production can be recovered and reused in the process. The question at issue is whether there will be enough energy available when needed due to an intermittent process, and if a heat pump will be feasible to implement. To investigate the possibilities, the energy availability in the different parts of the process was determined. A simulation of a heat pump for the process could then be executed in Aspen Plus. Furthermore, the intermittency was analyzed as well as the feasibility. The heat pump market was analyzed and different options of for example refrigerants were discussed. From the simulations, it was concluded that a heat pump of approximately 0.46 MW in heating and 0.31 MW in cooling capacity is best suited for this process, and will create the needed hot process water as well as cool off the cooling water. Ammonia was chosen as the best refrigerant option due to a suitable temperature interval and small environmental impacts. It is determined that a heat pump can be adapted to the intermittency since storing of hot process water is possible. For a heat pump unit with the heating capacity of 218 kW recommended by a company, the investment could possibly be feasible on a 3.5 year payback period, but this is only if the facility can increase the yearly production on account of the heat pump and thus increase the ROI. With these conclusions, there is a need for further investigation and evaluation of especially the intermittency and possibilities to shorten the production times to increase the profitability.}},
author = {{Ekenberg, Ida and Söderberg, Ida}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Investigation of the Possibility to Implement a Heat Pump for the Recovery of Heat From Process Cooling Water}},
year = {{2024}},
}