DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH TEMPERATURE HEAT PUMPS IN THE EU-PROJECT SOLINDARITY

The European Union (EU) funded Project SOLINDARITY (https://solindarity.eu/) will develop, demonstrate and validate the feasibility of an integrated Solar Energy-based Heat Upgrade System (SEHUS) comprising solar energy resources (High Vacuum Flat Solar Panels and Photovoltaic), innovative High Temperature Heat Pumps (HTHP), Thermal Energy Storage (TES) and Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) for the deep decarbonization of industrial processes with temperatures up to 280°C. The SEHUS to be developed will demonstrate its effectiveness, robustness, sustainability and cost-efficiency in three industrial sites, belonging to different industrial sectors (Food, Paper, Rubber) and climatic regions (Germany, Greece, Italy). This study considers first results of the development and integration process of a reversed Brayton HTHP regarding the SEHUS in the case of a thermal oil energy based industrial food production process in Germany. The integration concept and a preliminary dimensioning based on steady-state simulations covering the concept of the HTHP and the starting point for the design phase. First results of the design are also showing. This allow conclusions to be drawn about the process integration of HTHP into thermal oil based industrial processes.