Loading...
Multi-Level process integration of heat pumps in a non-continuous processing site
Abstract
Industrial process heat demands contribute significantly to New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions. With a global push towards decarbonization, including New Zealand’s Climate Change Response Amendment Act 2019, there is a need for methods and technologies that can be applied to replace industrial fossil fuel boiler use. With an increasing range of renewable energy sources, electrification provides a promising alternative to fossil fuel use; however, it is also critical to reduce process heat demands where possible. This can be done through the reuse of industrial waste heat via direct heat exchange, thermal storage, or heat pump installations. Existing Heat Integration methods provide a means of identifying waste heat recovery opportunities; however, these methods are typically aimed at steady state industries. In New Zealand, many industries operate in a non-continuous manner, creating challenges in the accurate application of these existing Heat Integration methods.
This thesis presents a multi-level process integration method for heat pump and thermal storage retrofit on non-continuous industrial processing sites. This method aims to address several gaps in current Heat Integration methodology through the novel amalgamation of several tools discussed in four main chapters: (1) A multi-level heat pump integration tool is developed that sequentially identifies heat pump opportunities to both upgrade waste heat for reuse, and shift remaining waste process heat towards more favorable temperature ranges, (2) A multi steady state time slice investigation develops a tool for selecting appropriate time slice sizes to accurately represent variable, non-continuous industrial sites, (3) a multi steady state thermal storage identification tool is developed by applying the previously identified time slices to existing heat integration methods with an aim to further buffer fluctuations in heat demand, and optimize the thermal loads on the previously identified heat pump opportunities.
The tools are combined into a final method and applied to a meat processing case study site that is representative of the variable, non-continuous industries that dominate the food sector in New Zealand. In this case study, hourly time slices were used to identify multiple successive heat pump opportunities including a 1.9 MW MVR that recompresses waste steam from the rendering dryers with a COP of 10, and a central 1.5 MW heat pump that supplies heat at 70°C to the site ring main with a COP of 3.4. In addition, it was found that the 90°C heat pump, already installed on the case study site, would have the potential to increase utilization on the case study site if the two other heat pump opportunities identified were implemented. Thermal storage opportunities were also identified that can be used to buffer heat demands on the 70°C heat pump opportunity, thereby allowing the heat pump to be resized to 1.04 MW in comparison to the initially hypothesized 1.5 MW, reducing both capital and operational costs of the heat pump.
This amalgamated method provides novel Total Site Heat Integration additions, which when compared to conventional heat integration methods, provide more accurate and more useful heat pump decarbonization strategies for non-continuous industrial sites, ultimately aiding in industrial decarbonization.
Type
Thesis
Type of thesis
Series
Citation
Date
2024
Publisher
The University of Waikato
Rights
All items in Research Commons are provided for private study and research purposes and are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.