Development and pilot demonstration of heat upgrade technologies with supply temperature in the range 150-250°C

This topic aims to satisfy the need for low-medium temperature heat in the relevant industrial sectors, by upgrading lower temperature heat flows, including from renewable heat sources, ambient heat or industrial excess (waste) heat, as a cost-efficient way to improve energy efficiency and reduce the GHG emissions.

Available heat upgrade technologies, such as for example heat pumps, are limited to supply (sink) temperatures of 150°C. Innovative heat upgrade technologies have the potential to extend the temperature range up to 250°C, which would allow to cover more industrial applications.

In order to reach this goal all the following development areas need to be covered:

• Identify the target industrial processes which would benefit from this higher temperature heat upgrade technology, as excess (waste) heat sources and as users (heat sinks); make a preliminary assessment of the potential impacts of these industrial applications in terms of energy savings and GHG and air pollutant emissions reductions in the EU (and Associated States, if data are available), so as to maximise the impact and coverage of the most promising applications in the subsequent development step; estimate by extrapolation the benefits at global level. A preliminary analysis of the feasibility and GHG emissions reduction impact, of the proposed heat upgrade process is expected already in the proposal.
• Develop one or more heat upgrade technologies to raise the sink output temperature to the range 150 to 250°C. If needed investigate in new working fluids. Optimise the technical performances in terms of: temperature increase between sink inlet and sink outlet temperatures; temperature spread between source and sink temperatures; flexibility to source input temperature variations; higher sink thermal power potential; higher coefficient of performance.
• Integration and demonstration of at least one system at pilot scale, in conditions, as far as practical, similar to real industrial environment. The optional integration of renewable heat sources (e.g. solar thermal) as the input heat flow to be further upgraded, is in scope.
• Make a preliminary estimation of the future equipment cost for at least two industrial applications, to evaluate its economic potential; define an exploitation strategy.
• Dissemination of the technical and economic benefits, notably (but not only) to the communities of the relevant Horizon Europe private-public partnerships.