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Solar heating and cooling for industrial processes

As energy demand grows worldwide, solar heat can provide an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient solution to industrial sites. Given that 2/3 of industrial energy consumption are related to heating and cooling processes, it is crucial that renewable thermal energy sources are integrated to help minimize Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) while maximizing utilization of their refrigeration systems.

The HyCool project aims to increase the use of solar energy in industrial processes. Advanced solar thermal systems are already available for temperatures below 100 °C, but for higher temperatures and outputs, as required for many industrial applications, the technologies still need to be further developed. In the HyCool project, concentrating solar collectors (Fresnel, co. Ecotherm) and novel latent heat storage systems (co. AIT) are being developed that can provide steam (up to 30 bar, 250 °C) and pressurized hot water (150 °C) with high efficiency. New hybrid heat pumps (co. Fahrenheit) are also used to generate cooling for various processes at the two demonstration sites in Spain (co. Givaudan (fragrances and flavorings) and Bo De Debo (food)).

Funding Tools

European Union Horizon 2020 program

Projectpartner

Veolia (Lead), AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, IDP, BO DE DEBO, CNR, Fahrenheit, R2M Solution, UNE, Ecotherm, Givaudan, Ekodenge, JER, EMPA, CiaoTech, Comet