First heat pump arrives at DTI for testing
The first of the two high-temperature heat pump systems developed in the project has arrived at the lab at DTI for testing. This heat pump will be integrated at process level in a protein drying.
Earlier in the spring 2024, a very exciting container arrived at the Industrial Refrigeration and Heat Pump Laboratory at Danish Technological Institute (DTI). Inside it - the first of two high-temperature heat pumps developed in the InterHeat project.
This heat pump is a cascade system using hydrocarbons (isobutane and isopentane) and semi-hermetic commercial compressors from Frascold for supply temperatures of up to 150 °C. The heat pump will eventually be integrated at process level in a protein drying process at Essentia.
Since the arrival at DTI, the heat pump has been optimized and several test runs have been conducted, gradually achieving higher and higher temperatures. The purpose of testing the heat pump in the laboratory is to make sure it can handle output temperatures between 150-160°C.
- Operating at these high temperatures is actually quite groundbreaking, which only makes this even more exciting, says Tage Petersen, Danish Technological Institute.
The heat pump must be capable of delivering air heated to 150°C. Since this is done via a heat exchanger, slightly higher temperatures (170°C) on the refrigerant side are required to ensure efficient heat transfer and compensate for any temperature losses that may occur during the exchange process.
