Climate change has been described by the UN as the defining crisis of our time, which is happening even more quickly than previously feared. Human-induced warming reached approximately 1°C above pre-industrial levels in 2017 and is continuing to increase at 0.2°C per decade.

To keep the temperature increase compared to pre-industrial levels below an increase of 2°C, global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is required. The industrial sector (of which Chemical Manufacturing is a significant part) is responsible for around 46% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, improving industrial energy efficiency has a significant role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Industrial waste heat recovery is recognised as a vital technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, most heat below 100°C is lost to the ambient environment, even though it could theoretically be captured using high-efficiency heat-pump technology. Heat pumps use electrically activated compressors in a reverse Carnot cycle to raise the low-temperature waste industrial heat source to valuable high-temperature heat, usually in the form of steam or pressurised water. In particular, high-temperature heat pumps (HTHPs) are defined by the International Energy Agency as those which convert heat source temperatures of 40-60°C to heat sink temperatures of 80-100°C (the current market offer), while very HTHPs operate at heat sink and source temperatures of above 100°C and 60°C, respectively.

Although the environmental benefits and potential of HTHPs are well understood, they have not yet gained widespread commercial acceptance because of technological challenges and their higher cost (at c£500 - 900/kW) compared to conventional boilers and fossil fuels (c£200/kW). Yet, it has been estimated that 2.85% of the world's primary energy consumption is lost as industrial waste heat below 100°C. If all the industrial waste heat in the EU could be captured, then we estimate that this would be equivalent to a reduction of approximately 15 million tonnes/year of carbon dioxide emissions (roughly equivalent to taking 20 million petrol cars off the road).

With Innovate UK support, Nthalpy (lead SME) will partner with Projective (partner SME; leading UK provider of technical consulting and engineering services) to develop the world's first sub-1MW high-temperature heat-pump that can compete commercially with burning fossil fuels. By overcoming the existing technological and commercial barriers, this project will unlock the ability to capture waste low-temperature heat at scale. Mitigating climate change and supporting the UK's net zero ambition.