Imagine a giant heat pump, like the one in your home, but powerful enough to create steam for a steel mill. This project replaces old fossil-fuel burners with electric systems that can reach temperatures up to 300 °C. It also uses digital clones to make sure these systems run at peak efficiency. It's essentially upgrading industrial ovens and boilers to run on clean electricity.
Industrial process heating is a major source of EU emissions and relies heavily on fossil fuels. Current electric heat pumps cannot reach the high temperatures (above 150 °C) required by heavy industries like steel and ceramics.
A suite of high-temperature heat pumps (up to 300 °C), superheated steam drying systems, and radiative waste heat recovery devices, all optimized via digital twins.
If you are a steel mill operator dealing with high carbon emissions from heat processes — this project developed high-temperature heat pump solutions that can reduce energy use by 43% to 86%. This allows for a complete shift to local renewable energy sources.
If you are a kiln manufacturer dealing with expensive gas heating for minerals — this project developed heat pump-based drying and heating technologies. These systems enable decarbonization while significantly cutting energy costs.
If you are a plant manager dealing with inefficient steam drying — this project developed a steam compression-based solution for superheated steam drying. This technology helps reach climate targets by replacing fossil fuels with electricity.
Based on available project data, specific pricing or cost figures are not provided; however, the project targets energy savings between 43% and 86%.
The technologies are being demonstrated in 5 installations at industrial end-users, specifically in the asphalt, ceramics, pulp & paper, bricks, and steel sectors.
Based on available project data, there is no specific information regarding the IP or licensing model for the developed technologies.
The development and scaling of these technologies are optimized using digital twin-based solutions to ensure efficient plant-wide implementation.
The project runs from November 1, 2024, to October 31, 2028, aiming to reach a TRL of 7 by the end of the period.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward commercial application, with 14 industry partners (64% of the group) and 5 SMEs. With 22 partners across 8 European countries, the project combines the academic rigor of 2 universities and 5 research centers with direct industrial validation in the steel, ceramics, and paper sectors.
Contact Teknologisk Institut in Denmark for technical specifications on high-temperature heat pumps.
Contact us to match with the EEETHOS consortium for early adoption of high-temperature electrification.
