Colloquia

Summary

Industrial waste heat at low temperature is frequently lost to the environment due to

its unsuitability for direct utilization within industrial processes or integration into district heating systems. The

extent of this waste heat is estimated to be significant. To mitigate these losses, a strategy is employed to raise the

waste heat’s temperature without relying on precious electricity, and this is achieved through the implementation of

a thermochemical heat transformer (THT).

This master’s thesis explores the operational principles of a THT and investigates opportunities for enhancing this

system. The closed THT system harnesses the enthalpy energy produced by the reaction between a reactive salt and

water vapor, effectively elevating the waste heat’s temperature which is flowing through the reactor. This process

involves a (de)hydration cycle for charging and discharging the reactive salt.

Additionally, an examination has been conducted to assess the potential of low-temperature industrial waste heat

in Europe and specifically in the Enschede and Hengelo region. Finally, a Matlab model has been developed to

determine the performance and design parameters of a modular THT configuration for waste heat at low temperature. This

model is able to calculate the conversion of the salt, power output, efficiencies and temperature lift. It was found that

the model shows a good representation of the reality following the same behaviour considering the made assumptions.

The model has the capacity to simulate the behavior of a 1-salt THT system using any salt and accommodating

various waste heat temperatures. It provides insights into the performance of the modular design at a waste heat

with low temperature.