Techno-economic feasibility of high-temperature high-lift chemical heat pumps for upgrading industrial waste heat

This paper presents the results of a techno-economic feasibility study on two high-temperature high-lift chemical heat pumps for upgrading industrial waste heat. The study was set up in order to select the most promising heat pump concept for further development. First, a market study is performed to assess the amount of waste heat and the temperature dependence thereof. Based on the market potential, two heat pump concepts are selected for further detailed evaluation. These are an isopropanol heat pump and a salt/ammonia vapour heat pump. Both heat pump concepts are technically able to upgrade the waste heat to usable temperature levels. However, the salt/ammonia vapour heat pump has a much better technical performance. In addition, the economic analysis shows that this heat pump has a far better economic feasibility with a mean internal rate of return of 14%. Therefore, this heat pump is selected for further development.