Are Power-to-Heat Technologies Ready to Transition Your Facility?

Power-to-heat generally refers to technical methods for converting electricity to some form of thermal energy that can be utilized in residential, commercial, or industrial applications. Today, many industrial processes rely on fossil fuels to generate process heat or steam. As climate change becomes a more pressing concern, societal, financial and regulatory pressure is increasing to look for alternatives. As facility owners and operators chart their path to reduced carbon intensity of their plants, they are investigating the promise and potential limitations of power-to-heat technologies.

In this presentation, we will specifically look at two common industrial processes: steam generation and direct process heating. First, we discuss three different solutions for steam generation: electrode boilers, submersible heating elements, and heat pumps. We review their operating principle, discuss typical applications, and describe limitations.

Second, we turn to direct process heating. Typical applications of these include fired-heaters, furnaces, kilns or similar equipment. The purpose is to either pre-heat a fluid before entering a subsequent processing step or directly drive a reaction. We discuss different technical solutions ranging from direct electrical heating to the generation of alternative fuels to plasma generation. We discuss their technical readiness and describe potential challenges in their deployment.