A test facility for using electrolyser waste heat for the district heating network is to be built in Zittau. Fraunhofer IEG and Linde AG aim to increase the efficiency of hydrogen production with this. The approach: The waste heat is to be upgraded by a heat pump and then fed into the municipal supply network as district heating. The city has now granted its building permit.
Hydrogen meets heat in Zittau: The facility named "LA-SeVe" is part of the "IntegrH2ate" project launched in 2022. Here, Linde and Fraunhofer IEG are investigating how PEM electrolysers can be connected with heat pumps and the heating network. The idea: The waste heat from electrolysis should be upgraded by a heat pump to feed it into the municipal supply network as district heating. The IntegrH2ate partners are also researching the use of the resulting oxygen.
With the now approved facility in Zittau, the project team is testing its concepts developed in recent years in practice, according to a statement from the Fraunhofer Institute. The aim is to optimize the plant concept for efficient coupling of electrolysers and heat pumps in electricity-, heat- or hydrogen-driven operation. Depending on whether the focus is on using green surplus electricity, saving fossil fuels, or optimal hydrogen production, the operating method and parameters change.
"This is good news for the IntegrH2ate project and the H2Giga lead project," says Thomas Emmert from Linde AG, overall project coordinator of IntegrH2ate. "This will allow us to prove that the extraction and effective use of the electrolysis product heat improves the economic efficiency of electrolysis." In the medium term, this could drive forward the implementation of electrolysis projects and thus support the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy.
Project Details
The "Laboratory Plant for Sector-Coupled Utilization of PEM Electrolysis Products" (LA-SeVe) is being built with an investment of 2.7 million euros on the premises of Stadtwerke Zittau. The electrolyser fits in a container space of about 12 meters length and 2.5 meters width. A new transformer station supplies the electricity.
The heat pump with a maximum output of 105 kW (thermal) receives a 5 by 5 meter footprint in an existing hall, including buffer storage, pumps, and control technology. The researchers want to connect it to the electrolyser via a water circuit. The waste heat from the electrolyser then flows via the heat pump into the municipal district heating network.
Test Infrastructure for Industrial Processes
"With our test facilities, we are creating a test infrastructure to test and qualify industry-related processes," says Clemens Schneider, project manager at Fraunhofer IEG.
At its location in Zittau, Fraunhofer IEG conducts "application-oriented research with a view to regional industry and municipal heat supply". The focus is on technologies for converting various forms of energy such as electricity and heat. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the IntegrH2ate project with around 19 million euros. Of this, around 4.2 million euros go to the IEG.
