Implementation of sustainable heat upgrade technologies for industry

SPIRIT (Implementation of sustainable heat upgrade technologies for industry) will demonstrate three full-scale (>0.7 MWth) industrial heat pump systems that upgrade industrial waste heat to valuable temperatures (135-160°C). The demonstration covers sites in the paper & pulp and food & beverage industry, covering 63% of the potential high-temperature heat upgrade market. SPIRIT achieves technology scaling by designing modular heat pumps with standard components covering a large portion of the industrial heat upgrade market. The standard components allow a straightforward and cheaper manufacturing, thereby achieving improvement in economic performance. Compared to regular heat pumps, technical performance improvements of 30% are validated with advanced working fluids (zeotropic mixtures). SPIRIT will develop standard heat pump integration methods for industry to allow easier integration. New business models and contractual agreements for upgrading heat technology are developed considering single and multi-stakeholder environments, mainly through considering heat as a service. To ensure sufficient capacity is available to carry the innovation of SPIRIT, a competence framework is developed to identify which skills are needed (and missing) in the market. The missing skills are used as input for two summer schools, where SPIRIT will educate and train engineers, maintenance staff, and other critical enabling stakeholders. The learnings from the demonstrations, market analysis, technical and non-technical barriers analysis are captured and communicated to raise awareness of the challenges and benefits of heat pumps in the industrial sector. SPIRIT has a strong partnership consisting of technology suppliers, end-users, knowledge providers, business and market experts, and dissemination and knowledge transfer partners. A multi-sectoral advisory board guides the SPIRIT project and its partners with representatives of the district heating, chemical and refinery sector.