Heat Pump Strategies and Payoffs

After evaluating numerous waste heat sources and heat pump designs for energy recovery, we have become aware that a great deal of confusion exists about the economics of heat pumps. The purpose of this article is to present some simple formulas for the design and economics of heat pump systems so that the reader may easily determine which heat pump applications are most cost effective. Commercially available equipment is considered to determine the near-term and future economic viability of each approach as a function of the source and user temperatures, and magnitude of heat flow. Generic heat pumps, including vapor recompression designs are explained, costed, estimated in performance, and evaluated as a function of basic economic parameters such as local utility and fuel rates. Steam recompression and generation of steam from moist, hot air are also investigated specifically