High-temperature heat pumps help achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals

High-temperature heat pumps have great potential for carbon reduction in industrial applications, mainly by replacing fossil fuel equipment, improving energy efficiency, and recovering waste heat, etc., to help achieve the carbon peak target. The following is a brief analysis of key industries, application methods and potential carbon reduction:

Carbon emission reduction estimation

1. Carbon reduction per unit heat

• High-temperature heat pumps usually have a COP of 35, which can replace coal-fired/gas-fired boilers, and can reduce 50200 kg CO₂ emissions for every 1 GJ of heat produced (depending on the specific energy structure).
• Based on large-scale industrial applications, millions of tons of CO₂ can be reduced each year.

1. Macro emission reduction potential

• If the penetration rate of high-temperature heat pumps in industrial heating reaches 30%, the world can reduce about 150 to 200 million tons of CO₂ each year.

Main application industries and methods

1. Chemical and pharmaceutical

• Application links: reactor heating, solvent recovery, low-grade steam production.
• Methods: Replace gas boilers and recover production waste heat for heating processes.
• Emission reduction effect: 0.2~0.3 tons of CO₂ can be reduced per ton of steam.

1. Food processing

• Application links: drying (such as grains, fruits and vegetables), sterilization, and hot water for washing.
• Method: Use waste heat to increase the temperature instead of directly burning natural gas or fuel oil.
• Emission reduction effect: Reduce carbon emissions by 20~50% per ton of food processing heat demand.

1. Textile and printing and dyeing

• Application links: dyeing, shaping, and drying.
• Method: High-temperature heat pump heating replaces boiler steam and recovers waste heat from shaping and drying.
• Emission reduction effect: Reduce energy-related CO₂ by more than 30%.

1. Metallurgy and machinery

• Application links: metal heat treatment, waste heat recovery.
• Method: Recover waste heat from high-temperature waste gas for hot air supply and preheating raw materials.
• Emission reduction effect: Reduce 0.2~0.5 tons of CO₂/ton of steel.

1. Papermaking industry

• Application links: pulp drying, preheating, and waste heat utilization.
• Method: heat pump heating combined with waste heat recovery for paper drying or workshop heating.
• Emission reduction effect: energy efficiency increased by 30%, and CO₂ emissions reduced by more than 25%.

Emission reduction mechanism and strategy

1. Waste heat recovery: use low-grade heat sources such as industrial exhaust gas and wastewater to increase the temperature through heat pumps for recycling.
2. Replace fossil fuels: heat pumps combined with renewable electricity (such as photovoltaics and wind power) for heating can achieve near-zero carbon emissions.
3. Distributed energy supply: promote heat pump centralized energy supply in industrial parks to replace small coal-fired boilers.

Summary

After being widely used in the industrial field, high-temperature heat pumps can significantly reduce fossil energy consumption, and the carbon emission reduction of a single project can reach 20~50%. The promotion and application in high-energy-consuming industries such as chemical, food, and textiles will provide strong support for the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.