Technologies for Defossilisation of Process Heat

Process heat is the heat required in industrial processes during the manufacturing of a product. In Germany, process heat constitutes two-thirds of the industrial sector (IN4climate.NRW, 2022) which corresponds to nearly 20% of Germany’s total energy demand (NRW.Energy4Climate, 2022). This heat demand varies between the industrial sectors and is highly dependent on the quantities, processes and, in particular, the production temperature requirements. Therefore, this paper presents an overview of industrial processes and available technologies with their respective temperature ranges and matches them as a basis to create concepts for the defossilisation of process heat. The overview of industrial processes is split into their respective industrial sectors and the respective temperature requirements are summarised in a table. After identifying available technologies for defossilisation through literature research, such as heat pumps, electric boilers, and solar thermal technologies, each technology is evaluated based on its advantages, limitations, and suitability for different temperature requirements in industrial processes. The technology overview is visualised through a diagram containing temperature levels of technologies and energy sources. The research conducted is based on German national data, but temperature requirements and available technologies can be applied to other countries as well. The data contained in this paper could be used to develop process heat concepts or as a market overview for the introduction of new technologies to defossilise process heat.