An analysis of heat pumps for industrial applications

Since the year 2000 the sales figures of heat pumps in Austria show a strong growth. However, the market is dominated by heat pumps for heating and hot water preparation in residential buildings. In contrast to this application industrial heat pumps seem to play a minor role. To emphasize the industrial heat pump market this paper highlights possibilities in a growing market. For some industrial applications absorption or compression heat pumps can be used. Therefore, a simple diagram is derived, which enables a rapid estimation of the operating cost ratio of both heat pump types using the COP_h ratio and energy cost ratio as inputs. This estimation shows a substantial influence of energy carrier prices. In a next step the payback periods for the replacement of a natural gas heating boiler with a compression and an absorption heat pump are calculated. Finally, the main influencing parameters (efficiency, investment costs, energy prices, heating capacity and operating hours) are varied to determine their impact on the payback period.