Successful application examples of industrial heat pumps in Switzerland.

Domestic heat pumps are well established in Switzerland with around 22’000 units per year and a market share of around 80% in new buildings. In Swiss industry, fossil-fuel driven heat generation systems are still preferred, mainly due to the low gas-to-electricity price ratio. Sales of industrial heat pumps (>100 kW) are around 145 units per year, with growing importance in the food, chemical, pharmaceutical and paper industries. 30% to 40% reduction of CO2 emissions and savings of large quantities of fossil fuels are achieved. This study provides an up-to-date overview of 29 case studies of successful application examples of industrial heat pumps in Switzerland. The case studies include heating and cooling examples of the Swiss food industry with the production of chocolate, cheese, vinegar and meat as well as the heat treatment of metal parts and the generation of district heating. Potential applications are the generation of hot water, hot air and steam. The refrigerants used are R134a, R245fa, R1234ze(E), ammonia, and CO2.