Electrification of Industrial Process Heat Using Heat Pumps and Photovoltaic Systems
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that solar and heat pump technologies are viable solutions for reducing carbon emissions in industries. Uncertainties regarding system performance, process integration, operational schemes and high capital cost for installation significantly increase the investment risk, which can be considered a barrier for small and medium-sized industries. Therefore, more detailed analyses should be carried out to gain a clear view of the economic and technical feasibility of these solutions. This study considers computer simulations of solar heating systems, such as (i) a photovoltaic system with an electrical heater, (ii) a photovoltaic system with thermal accumulation, and (iii) a photovoltaic aided high temperature heat pump with thermal accumulation, all of which for supplying hot water for industrial processes in Brazil. Each system was designed to provide minimal LCOH values and are compared against two reference cases, a standard gas-based heater, commonly used in Brazilian industry, and a flat plate SHIP system. While all three analyzed systems proved to be economically better over a gas-based system, none demonstrated competitiveness against the flat plate collector for solar heat in industrial processes.
Keywords
Process heat, Solar photovoltaic energy, Heat pumps, Simulations, Economic analysis