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District heating heat pumps

Enhance your heat production: Integrate an industrial heat pump!

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How do other district heating companies integrate heat pumps?

  • Local networks often have heating capacities below 1 MW. Many include a biomass boiler and a backup fossil fuel boiler. Replacing the fossil fuel boiler during plant refurbishment is both climate-conscious and economically beneficial.​

  • Excess heat serves as an easily accessible resource when a district heating network is nearby. Various sources of waste heat, such as wastewater treatment facilities, data centers, and other industrial applications, offer potential for utilization. A heat pump converts the low-temperature available heat into high-grade thermal energy.

  • Integrating a large-scale heat pump into the existing plant allows the conversion of cheap electricity into heat and provides extra income from electrical grid balancing services. The most common type of heat pumps are air source. If conditions are right, geothermal or water source heat pumps may perform even better.

How does a heat pump work?

An electrically driven heat pump functions via a vapor compression cycle. At the core of this process is a substance called a refrigerant, which within this closed system experiences phase transitions. At low pressure, the refrigerant boils as it absorbs energy from the heat source. A compressor then increases the pressure by about three to seven times. The high-pressure refrigerant releases thermal energy mainly through condensation. The refrigerant then passes through an expansion device, which reduces the pressure back to a low level. By utilizing electricity as a driving force for the compressors, the cycle repeats, transferring heat from a low-temperature source to a high-temperature sink.

Learn more about industrial heat pumps

Sizing principles are important for a success of the project.

What may go wrong? Avoid potential failures.

What do our customers say

I am very satisfied with the work you have done. You contributed exactly what I needed, which was expertise around heat pumps.
You are very technically knowledgeable about various heat pump solutions and the results you presented were very detailed and provided a good basis for further decisions.

Carl Torstensson, Driftingenjör Fjärrvärme/VA

About EKA

EKA is a specialized engineering team with a dedicated focus on heat pump and refrigeration systems. Engage EKA as your independent consultant from the initial planning phase to gain a competitive edge for your project. We design custom, manufacturer-neutral solutions for your system, ensuring the optimal choice and driving a highly competitive procurement process.

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