Decarbonisation - Steam without Gas

Industry undoubtedly plays an important role in achieving the climate protection goals - after all, industrial production requires about one third of the energy consumed in Austria. The innovation and cooperation platform NEFI (New Energy for Industry) aims to show that 100% renewable energy supply for industry is possible with technologies developed in Austria. This association, coordinated by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, currently unites more than 125 project partners in 24 showcase projects in seven provinces. 

One of these projects is called AHEAD - short for "Advanced Heat Pump Demonstrator". Here, a steam-generating heat pump is being integrated into industrial operations for the first time at the Vienna site of the international biopharmaceutical company Takeda. Heat pumps, with which unused waste heat can be raised to a higher temperature level and thus used effectively, are already used in many areas, such as heating houses or in industrial drying processes. Until now, it was not possible to reach such high temperatures so that steam could be produced for industrial purposes. Takeda needs steam at 184 degrees for production. This is currently produced with the help of natural gas burners.

In the AHEAD project, a high-temperature heat pump was developed and integrated into Takeda's energy centre, running exclusively on 100 per cent natural refrigerants and combined with vapour compressors to achieve the highest heat utilisation temperatures to date: The AHEAD system can reach temperatures of 200 to a maximum of 260 degrees Celsius. 

One of the technical challenges here is that the high temperatures can cause thermal problems in the compressor or problems with the refrigerating machine oil. Also, most conventional refrigerants cannot be used for such high temperatures. However, a new heat pump manufactured by project partner SPH Sustainable Process Heat GmbH can. In the future, it will heat heating water - which is prepared at Takeda by heat pumps from the waste heat of cooling processes - from 65 to around 130 degrees and vaporise it in the process. This steam will then be compressed to 11 bar and heated to over 184 degrees, as required for drug production. This should save 90 per cent of the required natural gas and the associated CO2 emissions over the year, as Harald Erös, AHEAD project manager at Takeda, explains.

Over the next few years, the AIT will be particularly concentrating on the optimal use of this technology. "The AIT Center for Energy will develop an optimised operating strategy for the AHEAD system with a comprehensive system model. A novel approach will be developed for the CO₂ savings potential. This will combine process requirements and expected process changes, learning curves for high-temperature heat pumps based on the experience of the project, and statistical data," reports Veronika Wilk, AHEAD project manager at AIT. 

The research project will also develop a concept for implementing the AHEAD system at other Takeda sites in Austria and worldwide. In addition, the decarbonisation potential of this technology for other important industrial sectors with high energy consumption, such as the paper, chemical and food industries, is being investigated in Austria.

AHEAD thereby impressively testifies to the NEFI network's goal of avoiding CO2 emissions and demonstrating the transformation of the industrial energy system towards climate neutrality. "The special thing about our cooperation is that the new technologies can be tested in real time in the field - we research and develop very close to the immediate implementation," explains Wolfgang Hribernik, head of the AIT Center for Energy and NEFI network coordinator.

This principle can be found in all NEFI activities. Here are some examples of projects in which - in addition to AHEAD - the AIT is significantly involved: 

• The Heat Highway project uses industrial waste heat to decarbonise the heat supply of regions. 
• EDDY - Enhanced Drying focuses on optimising industrial drying in the agricultural raw materials industry and the food industry.
• Low Pressure Steam Heat Pump (LEAP) focuses on the development of innovative integration measures of heat pump systems for low-pressure steam supply from industrial waste heat.
• In envIoTcast - Environmentally Friendly Casting, a concept for a modern, sustainable "Green Foundry 4.0" is being developed and demonstrated - with the aim of increasing energy efficiency in high-temperature processes (melting, casting, etc.) and completely decarbonising the remaining energy consumption. 
• The Industry4Redispatch (I4RD) project is investigating innovative grid-supporting solutions that enable the provision of flexibility from the demand and supply side to the distribution network level.
• In Clean Energy for Tourism (CE4T), energy demand, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies in the tourism industry - especially in winter tourism - were optimised. 
• In Smart Anergy Quarter Baden (SANBA), a low-temperature heating and cooling network was developed on the site of the former Martinek barracks in Baden, using industrial waste heat, geothermal energy, photovoltaics and solar thermal energy. 
• The Cascade project is about the use of geothermal energy in industry and in district heating networks. Deep and near-surface geothermal resources in three areas in Upper Austria are being analysed. 
• The goals of the GreenSteel project are to develop concepts and technical solutions to decarbonise steel production by 100 per cent. The solutions will also be tested and demonstrated at selected sites. 

"The transformation of the industrial energy system towards climate neutrality requires not only new individual technologies but also technical and economic solutions as well as new regulatory framework conditions. With NEFI as an active innovation network, we can develop solutions for all these aspects in our innovation fields," Hribernik summarises.