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The first industrial high-temperature heat pump at Wienerberger went into demo operation. The DryF heat pump converts industrial waste heat into usable energy and is now being used in the brick works of Wienerberger in Uttendorf, Austria.

The Demonstration was attended by experts from European industries as well as leading energy integrators. The Heat Pump will now run over a period of time to assess the efficiency of the system in terms of performance parameters, energy efficiency, and validation of energy savings.

As part of the EU-project DryFiciency, SINTEF is developing and testing a novel compressor type together with ROTREX: a so-called turbo compressor. The challenge was to design a gearbox which results in a rotational speed of up to 80.000 rpm for an impeller size of 15 cm and at the same time seal the compressor room from the drive unit. This week the factory assembly tests were finalized successfully and the design is approved for a heat pump application and other steam compression processes.

"The main component in an open loop heat pump system is the compression device" Michael Bantle (Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF Energy Research, Department of Thermal Energy), recently published a blog article about their work on turbo compressors in the #SINTEFblog. Read more about the full story here.

The DryFiciency consortium and leading industrial heat pump experts, energy consultants, industry associations and industrial end users from the External Experts Advisory Board (EEAB) met for a Business Development workshop in Salzburg ahead of the 1^st Demonstration Event of the DryFiciency High Temperature Heat Pump System.

Wienerberger has integrated the DryF closed loop high temperature heat pump demonstrator in a brick drying system at their production site in Uttendorf, Upper Austria.

The heating capacity of the heat pump demonstrator is 400 kW, with a heat supply temperatures range from 110 to 160°C. The heat pump on site will replace a natural gas burner and shall lead to end energy savings of up to 84% and reductions in CO2 emissions of about 80%. 

From Q3 2019 the DryFiciency consortium will be sporting a new member in its midst: The Norwegian waste and waste water management pioneer Scanship will be responsible to conduct dryer test runs of the MVR system in a land-based waste management system in Drammen (Norway) for bio-sludge drying.