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Technology
Aren't you destroying 50% of energy?
50% of the waste heat flows down from intermediate to ambient temperature and serves as a Carnot motor to drive the lift of the other 50% waste heat from intermediate to high temperature. You could compare it to a water turbine driving a pump to lift water to a higher elevation. Consequently, a QHT requires close to no electricity when compared to conventional heat pump technology, which requires large amounts of external electricity to achieve the heat lift. A higher conversion of energy to a higher temperature is physically impossible without adding an external energy source.
Is phosphoric acid dangerous?
- Not flammable
- Not explosive
- Not toxic nor carcinogenic
- Degradable in a standard WWTP after neutralisation
- No loss of chemical properties over time if remaining inside the closed loop
Aside from the chemical safety aspects, safety is also important in designing, operating, and maintaining the QHT. With 14 years of R&D track record and 0 LTIs in its commercial plants, Qpinch is confident it can, with its proprietary design and procedures, comply to the stringent safety standards of oil & gas and chemical industry.
Can the technology cope with waste heat fluctuations?
Yes, very easily and with almost no operator involvement.
When less heat is available, less heat will be absorbed by the endothermic dimerization of phosphoric acid (= cooling step) and consequently less heat at high temperature will be produced by the exothermic hydrolysis of phosphoric acid (= heat production step). The chemistry auto-regulates the process resulting in a very flexible turndown rate down to a factor 10 of the nominal capacity for our standard QHT technology.
What is the size of the installation?
The typical plot space of a 2 MW (= 3t/h steam) installation is 36m² with height of 20m. The typical plot space of a 12 MW (= 20 t/h steam) installation is 180m² with height of 20m. In cases where such plot spaces are unavailable, we can customise the QHT to fit smaller plots, with a higher top of steel. If you are not sure about the options on your site, please don’t hesitate to contact us: sales@qpinch.com
