Thermochemical Heat Recovery and Upgrade for Industrial Processes.
TechUPGRADE is a Horizon Europe research and innovation project developing a new thermochemical technology for upgrading low-temperature heat into useful industrial process heat at 150-250°C. The technology, called a Hydration Heat Transformer, is designed to recover and upgrade heat from sources such as industrial waste heat, solar thermal systems and potentially district heating, while requiring only marginal electricity input.
Using reversible hydration and dehydration of salt hydrates, the system can raise both the temperature of available heat and provide an inherent thermal energy storage function. The technology will be developed and validated in a relevant environment, including pilot-scale demonstrations in Sweden and Germany. One of the demonstrations will couple the thermochemical system with concentrating solar thermal collectors at Absolicon in Sweden.
Project overview
| Project period | May 2023 – April 2027 |
|---|---|
| Project status | Ongoing |
| Funding | European Union – Horizon Europe |
| Project coordinator | Technical University of Denmark (DTU) |
| Absolicon’s role | Leads the 35 kW concentrating solar thermal demonstration in Sweden, including system design, integration, commissioning, operation and monitoring. |
Background and challenge
Industrial processes require a lot of heat, much of it at temperatures that cannot easily be supplied by low-temperature renewable or recovered heat sources. Significant quantities of industrial waste heat are available below 200°C, while solar thermal and district heating also can provide valuable low- and medium-temperature heat. However, this heat often needs to be upgraded before it can be reused in industrial processes requiring temperatures between 150°C and 250°C.
Existing heat-upgrading technologies such as high-temperature compression heat pumps, face increasing technical and economic challenges as the required temperature rises. TechUPGRADE therefore investigates an alternative approach based on thermochemical reactions. Salt hydrates absorb and release heat through reversible chemical reactions, allowing low-temperature heat to be converted into higher-temperature process heat while also making it possible to store thermal energy chemically.
The project aims to demonstrate an approach that provides a flexible, efficient and cost-effective solution for industries including food processing, chemicals, pulp and paper and other heat-intensive sectors.
Absolicon’s contribution
Absolicon leads a task within the project, where a 35 kW thermochemical heat-upgrade system will be coupled with concentrating solar thermal collectors in Sweden. The demonstration is designed to investigate how solar thermal energy can be integrated with thermochemical heat upgrading and storage to increase the temperature and availability of renewable process heat.
Absolicon is responsible for designing the integration of solar thermal, including collector-field sizing and system configuration, followed by installation and coupling of the solar thermal system with the heat-upgrade unit. The integrated installation is planned to operate and be monitored for 6-9 months, generating practical knowledge about performance, operating challenges and opportunities for scaling the technology. Absolicon and MG Sustainable Engineering carry out the main implementation work with support from several consortium partners.
Expected results and impact
TechUPGRADE aims to validate a new pathway for making low-temperature renewable and recovered heat useful in higher-temperature industrial processes. The project also investigates environmental, economic and social impacts, alongside future business models, policy conditions and routes towards larger-scale demonstrations and eventual commercial deployment.
The project is expected to contribute to:
- Demonstration of a prototype system that upgrades lower-temperature heat to useful industrial heat at 150–250°C.
- Integration of concentrating solar thermal with thermochemical heat upgrading and storage, demonstrated at Absolicon’s Swedish pilot installation.
- More efficient use of industrial waste heat, reducing the amount of primary energy required for industrial process heating.
- Low electricity consumption and competitive heat costs, with the project targeting a levelized cost of heat in the range of approximately 3-6 €cent/kWh, depending on heat source and output temperature.
- Scalable industrial decarbonization. The project’s longer-term ambition is for the technology to contribute around 5 TWh of upgraded heat annually, corresponding to more than 900,000 tonnes of avoided greenhouse gas emissions per year if the supplied heat replaces natural gas.
Funding
TechUPGRADE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No. 101103966.
News, results and resources
TechUPGRADE project website >>
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
