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The overall availability of green electricity for the industry is estimated to be around 50% by 2050 due to limitations of nightly solar or unwindy days. The other 50% will be generated by conventional power plants using CCS/U (carbon capture and storage/utilization).
Besides availability, the connectivity to the grid is challenging in an electrified world. In some parts of the Benelux it is now already impossible to get new electrical connections. Therefore, technologies using only little electricity - in absence of green power - will be an important part of the decarbonization roadmap.
After starting up the first Qpinch Megawatt scale units more than a year ago, the heat to power ratio (QCOP/QpinchCOP) was about 15-20. Qpinch now realized a significant step forward thanks to the use of variable frequency driven motors in combination with advanced process control loops and lower pressure drop design. The electrical power consumption was drastically decreased and QCOP was increased to 25.
Dalia Janicki, Project Manager for PUSH2HEAT at Qpinch: “Frequency drives are the major milestone to increase the QpinchCOP of our heat transformer."
During the PUSH2HEAT project the QCOP will be demonstrated to be above 30 for a.o. the CCS case.
Qpinch facts:
- Qpinch runs a 1 MW Lighthouse plant in the Port of Antwerp with a core power consumption of 29kW.
- Qpinch its QCOP will leverage 1 unit of green power to 30 units of green heat.
- The Qpinch Coefficient of Performance - QCOP - is the ratio of heat produced and electrical input.
Note: OSBL power consumption is not part of the QCOP formula as this is already included in the electrical power of existing cooling systems
“PUSH2HEAT is a project funded through the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under the Grant Agreement No. 101069689”.
