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Energy Efficiency
Published in: Energy Efficiency 4/2012

01-11-2012 | Original Article

Thermal cooling using low-temperature waste heat: a cost-effective way for industrial companies to improve energy efficiency?

Authors: Dominik Schall, Simon Hirzel

Published in: Energy Efficiency | Issue 4/2012

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Abstract

As a typical cross-cutting technology, cooling and refrigeration equipment is used for a variety of industrial applications. While cooling is often provided by electric compression cooling systems, thermal cooling systems powered by low-temperature waste heat could improve energy efficiency and promise a technical saving potential corresponding to 0.5 % of the total electricity demand in the German industry. In this paper, we investigate the current and future cost-effectiveness of thermal cooling systems for industrial companies. Our focus is on single-stage, closed absorption and adsorption cooling systems with cooling powers between 40 and 100 kW, which use low-temperature waste heat at temperature levels between 70 °C and 85 °C. We analyse the current and future cost-effectiveness of these alternative cooling systems using annual cooling costs (annuities) and payback times. For a forecast until 2015, we apply the concept of experience curves, identifying learning rates of 14 % (absorption machines) and 17 % (adsorption machines) by an expert survey of the German market. The results indicate that thermal cooling systems are currently only cost-effective under optimistic assumptions (full-time operation, high electricity prices) when compared to electric compression cooling systems. Nevertheless, the cost and efficiency improvements expected for this still young technology mean that thermal cooling systems could be more cost-effective in the future. However, depending on future electricity prices, a high number of operating hours is still crucial to achieve payback times substantially below 4 years which are usually required for energy efficiency measures to be widely adopted in the industry.
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Footnotes
1
The COP is defined as the ratio of cooling output to driving energy. Eicker and Pietruschka (2009) estimate that the average COP of ECCS is 3.0 or below.
 
2
For a description of the technical principle of thermal cooling machines, see for example Henning et al. (2009).
 
3
See, for example, Blok (2007) or Berglund and Söderholm (2006) for a detailed description of experience curve calculations.
 
4
All publicly available information is referenced accordingly.
 
5
We did not include directly fired cooling machines as we focus on the use of waste heat.
 
6
In Japan alone, 900,000 air-conditioning units are already produced every year for commercial applications using electric compression technology; more than two thirds of these are exported (JRAIA 2010).
 
7
The first units with high cooling power date back to the beginning of the 1990s in Germany (several tens of units).
 
8
See Blok (2007) for detailed information on how to calculate experience curves.
 
9
The structure of the list follows Weiss (2009).
 
10
However, this potential has to be realised through active decisions and business leadership.
 
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Metadata
Title
Thermal cooling using low-temperature waste heat: a cost-effective way for industrial companies to improve energy efficiency?
Authors
Dominik Schall
Simon Hirzel
Publication date
01-11-2012
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Energy Efficiency / Issue 4/2012
Print ISSN: 1570-646X
Electronic ISSN: 1570-6478
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-012-9151-0

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