How Clean Heat Technologies Can Strengthen Industrial Resilience
- Melchior Krijgsman
- May 7
- 5 min read
In the face of mounting energy price volatility, decarbonization mandates, and geopolitical supply risks, industrial resilience has become a strategic imperative for manufacturers across Europe and beyond. Resilience no longer pertains solely to supply chain redundancy or workforce continuity; it now extends deep into the thermodynamic heart of operations—thermal energy systems. Clean heat technologies, especially industrial-scale heat pumps, are emerging as pivotal components in building the next generation of robust, low-carbon industrial infrastructure.
The Fragility of Fossil-Based Thermal Systems
Industrial processes across sectors such as chemicals, food and beverage, pulp and paper, and pharmaceuticals are still largely reliant on fossil-based thermal energy sources—primarily natural gas and fuel oil. These systems are deeply entrenched, both technically and economically, due to decades of sunk costs in steam networks, boiler units, and distribution infrastructure.
However, this legacy dependence introduces systemic fragility. Firstly, fossil fuel markets are increasingly unstable, driven by geopolitical disruptions and speculative trading. Secondly, rising carbon pricing under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) directly penalizes thermally intensive operations. The EU ETS has achieved a 50% reduction in emissions from covered sectors since 2005, underscoring its impact on industrial operations (for more info check out EU website: European Commission). Thirdly, fuel-based thermal systems typically operate at lower energy conversion efficiencies, generating waste heat that remains unutilized.
The combination of inefficiency, price exposure, and regulatory pressure makes fossil-thermal infrastructures a weak link in industrial resilience.
Clean Heat as a Strategic Asset
Industrial clean heat solutions, particularly large-scale heat pumps, offer a fundamentally different approach: they decouple thermal energy supply from fuel combustion by leveraging electricity—preferably from renewable sources—to deliver process heat. This shift not only reduces direct emissions but also introduces flexibility, redundancy, and energy source diversification into thermal systems.
Modern high-temperature heat pumps (HTHPs) can reach output temperatures of up to 160°C, making them suitable for many low-to-medium grade process heat applications such as drying, pasteurization, evaporation, and CIP (clean-in-place) cycles. In food manufacturing, for instance, HTHPs can recover low-grade waste heat (e.g., from cooling processes or exhaust streams) and upgrade it to usable process heat, effectively transforming a passive loss into an active energy input.
Engineering the Transition: Thermodynamic Levers and COP Optimization
From an engineering standpoint, the resilience gains from clean heat technologies stem from two primary principles: energy cascading and coefficient of performance (COP) optimization.
1. Energy Cascading and Process Integration
The ability to recover, upgrade, and reallocate waste heat within a facility enables a systemic energy cascade—where high-grade energy is used only where necessary, and lower-grade energy is reused downstream. For example, in a beverage plant, residual heat from a pasteurizer (~70°C) can be captured via a heat pump and used to preheat cleaning water or for space heating, replacing fresh thermal input.
This requires detailed thermal mapping and pinch point analysis of the facility to identify cross-process synergies. Tools such as Grand Composite Curves (GCC) and exergy analysis play a central role in quantifying integration potential and loss reduction.
2. Coefficient of Performance (COP) and Operational Flexibility
The COP, defined as the ratio of thermal output to electrical input, is the key performance metric of any heat pump system. A heat pump with a COP of 3.5, for instance, delivers 3.5 units of heat for every 1 unit of electricity consumed. For industrial resilience, high and stable COP values are crucial—they directly reduce OPEX and improve energy self-sufficiency when coupled with on-site renewables.
Several engineering choices influence the COP:
Working fluid selection: The thermophysical properties of the refrigerant or working fluid must match the targeted temperature lift and operating pressure ranges. Hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), ammonia, and CO₂ are increasingly common choices, each with trade-offs in toxicity, flammability, and Global Warming Potential (GWP).
Compressor technology: Scroll, screw, or centrifugal compressors have differing efficiencies across load profiles. Variable-speed drives (VSDs) offer better partial-load performance, which is key for demand-adaptive operation.
Heat exchanger design: Plate heat exchangers or double-pipe configurations must be optimized for minimal thermal resistance and fouling over time, especially when dealing with process-side contaminants.
Enhancing System Resilience Through Modularity and Control
Beyond thermodynamics, resilience depends heavily on system architecture. Modular heat pump arrays allow for n+1 redundancy, ensuring operational continuity in case of unit failure or maintenance. Additionally, integrating heat pumps into a broader Energy Management System (EMS) allows real-time optimization based on electricity prices, renewable availability, and thermal demand profiles.
For example, an EMS might prioritize heat pump usage during peak solar generation (when electricity is cheapest or even negative in cost), and throttle down during peak grid congestion. This type of dynamic load shifting turns thermal infrastructure into a grid-interactive asset—boosting both energy resilience and grid stability.
Real-World Applications and Payback Dynamics
Industries across Europe are already deploying clean heat systems as strategic upgrades. A paper mill in Austria recently retrofitted a 5 MW ammonia-based HTHP to recover exhaust heat from its drying section, achieving a COP of 4.2 and displacing over 7 GWh of natural gas annually. The system integrates with a biomass boiler and solar thermal field, forming a multi-vector thermal platform (for more detail check this article here: DTU Orbit).
In the Netherlands, a dairy processor has deployed modular heat pumps to decarbonize hot water generation across multiple CIP circuits. The system integrates with a thermal storage buffer and is controlled via a predictive load algorithm, aligning operation with solar PV production on-site (for more info check this article here: Heat Pumping Technologies).
Payback periods range from 3 to 7 years, depending on factors such as:
Local electricity and gas price spreads
Carbon pricing trajectory
Waste heat availability and quality
Integration costs (e.g., piping, instrumentation, BMS compatibility)
Crucially, many of these investments are now eligible for public funding via EU innovation funds, national decarbonization programs, and industrial efficiency schemes—further improving ROI and de-risking adoption.
Build Resilience with Entropic
In an era defined by energy volatility, emissions regulation, and competitive pressure, industrial firms must evolve from static thermal systems to dynamic, electrified heat architectures. Clean heat is no longer a “nice-to-have” sustainability measure—it is a cornerstone of operational resilience, cost stability, and future-proof engineering.
At Entropic, we specialize in high-performance industrial heat pump systems engineered to maximize process integration, thermodynamic efficiency, and ROI. Whether you're looking to retrofit existing infrastructure or design a future-ready clean thermal loop, our team of thermal engineers and systems integrators can help you map waste heat potential, optimize COPs, and deploy scalable solutions that work—today and over the long term.
Let’s future-proof your thermal backbone.
Reach out to info@entropic-energy.com or visit www.entropic.energy to begin your clean heat transition.
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