FORT COLLINS — The flavour of the beer is within the boiling time. For every of the New Belgium Brewing’s brews there’s a particular boiling time. So, along with the mash of malt and grains the brewery wants a number of extremely popular water.
Half of New Belgium’s direct greenhouse gasoline emissions — about 4,100 tons of carbon dioxide a 12 months — comes from burning pure gasoline to make steam, however the brewery is about to embark on an experiment to interchange a gasoline boiler with a first-of-its-kind, industrial electrical warmth pump.
“It might be good to have the ability to get off pure gasoline,” mentioned Katie Wallace, New Belgium’s chief atmosphere, social and governance officer.
Lower than a half-mile from the brewery at Colorado State College’s Powerhouse Power Campus, the startup firm AtmosZero is placing the ending touches on the prototype for the warmth pump.
The objective of the Powerhouse trial runs is to check the {hardware} and develop pc controls, mentioned Todd Bandhauer, a CSU professor of mechanical engineering and an AtmosZero co-founder. Bandhauer is the corporate’s chief know-how officer.
The prototype is a welter of pipes, compressors and warmth exchangers, resulting in a steam generator that appears like a silver area capsule or, because the AtmosZero staff sees it, a hippopotamus. A “Hungry Hungry Hippos” decal is pasted on its aspect.
“The long-term objective is to not develop a course of, however a product” — modular electrical boiler — Bandhauer mentioned.
Warmth pumps work by drawing warmth out of the air, even chilly air, counting on an electric-run compressor. Since they don’t burn any gas, they’re much extra environment friendly and in 2022 residential warmth pumps outsold furnaces.
What’s good for the home may be good for the manufacturing facility, based on a research by local weather coverage assume tank Power Innovation.
“Warmth pumps may be a number of occasions extra environment friendly than combustion applied sciences as a result of they transfer warmth like a fridge or air conditioner, moderately than creating warmth from their enter vitality, and they don’t lose warmth in combustion exhaust gases,” based on an Power Innovation research.
Whereas industrial processes like making metal and cement require temperatures of 1,000 levels Centigrade or extra — past the vary of warmth pumps — making paper, chemical substances, textiles and foodstuffs want temperatures of 200 levels Celsius, 392 levels Fahrenheit, or much less. New Belgium operates at 165 levels Celsius.
These lower-temperature industrial processes account for about 35% of commercial warmth demand within the U.S. and seven% of the nation’s greenhouse gasoline emissions.
Nonetheless, the commercial market — particularly for course of warmth — is basically untapped. In 2021, the worldwide marketplace for industrial warmth pumps was about $68 billion, however virtually all of that was for heating and cooling techniques.
Warmth pumps for industrial processes accounted for lower than $1 billion, not even 2% of the market, based on the Power Innovation research. Lots of these have been bespoke initiatives, particularly designed for firms.
“AtmosZero is seeking to have an off-the-shelf product that you may drop in for an present package deal boiler,” mentioned Neal Elliott, director emeritus on the American Council for an Power-Environment friendly Economic system. “For a small firm like New Belgium, that could possibly be a beautiful possibility.”
An ACEEE research calculated that warmth pumps can save as much as 32% of the supply vitality in producing course of warmth. “For industrial teams reminiscent of meals, chemical substances, and pulp and paper, our work exhibits IHPs might save the vitality equal to powering 1.3 million houses,” the report mentioned.
Making use of mass-manufacturing economics to the issue
AtmosZero has raised $7.5 million in enterprise capital and obtained $500,000 from the Division of Power’s program, which funds superior vitality know-how initiatives. It has additionally struck an settlement with to combine compressors from the Danish multinational heating and cooling firm Danfoss into the startup’s prototype.
The fundamentals of a residential air-source warmth pump start with a liquid refrigerant that has a really low boiling level permitting it to vaporize, even at subzero temperatures, capturing warmth. A compressor condenses the vapor elevating its temperature and a warmth exchanger strikes the warmth indoors. The refrigerant, a liquid as soon as extra, is cycled to select up extra warmth.
The AtmosZero prototype doubles and triples down on all these parts with a number of compressors, warmth exchangers and contours resulting in the hungry hippo.
“Nobody has accomplished what we’re doing earlier than, an industrial air supply steam warmth pump,” mentioned Addison Stark, the corporate’s CEO. “Now we have a extremely optimized design … our compressors use these extremely environment friendly refrigerants.”
However design is barely a part of the answer. “The problem has been the upfront prices,” Stark mentioned.
The Power Innovation evaluation estimated that in 2021 capital expenditures for a warmth pump — delivering warmth between 100 and 160 levels Celsius — at $870 a kilowatt, virtually 4 occasions the price of a pure gasoline steam boiler.
That’s the reason that AtmosZero is “specializing in mass manufacturing economics,” Stark mentioned. “From what we see from buyer demand on this area we will meet demand and drive the associated fee down quick.”
Nonetheless, there are different limitations to adoption, mentioned Jeffrey Rissman, senior director for business at Power Innovation.
First there may be the prospect of low pure gasoline costs, which makes gas-fired boilers extra aggressive in comparison with warmth pumps, after which there may be the overall inclination to stay with applied sciences that firms have already got and already know.
“If you happen to change you would possibly want bigger electrical energy strains, a brand new transformer,” Rissman mentioned. “If you happen to’ve accomplished it the identical means for a very long time, why change?”
Coverage initiatives on the federal and state stage might assist tip the steadiness, Rissman mentioned. The 2022 federal Inflation Discount Act consists of $10 billion in manufacturing tax credit, which could possibly be utilized to warmth pumps, and one other program created a $5.8 billion fund for retrofits or installations of “superior industrial know-how.”
The Colorado Power Workplace has a $25 million Clear Air Grants program for manufacturing and industrial air air pollution discount initiatives. The primary two challenge grants have been awarded, however not but introduced. Each are for warmth pumps, Wil Mannes, an vitality workplace affiliate program supervisor, mentioned.
“The stage is about for what could possibly be a steep adoption curve for industrial warmth pumps,” Rissman mentioned. “Nobody can predict the way forward for the market, however issues are effectively arrange.”
Pilot could possibly be put in subsequent summer time at New Belgium
When the trial runs on the AtmosZero prototype are accomplished within the first half of 2024, the following step will probably be to construct a 650-kilowatt pilot on the New Belgium Brewery, which can probably start working subsequent summer time.
“Now we have two brewhouses of various ages and totally different applied sciences,” mentioned Andy Collins, the brewery’s utility and carbon impartial engineer. One was in-built 1995 and a second in 2001 with superior brewing know-how. “Every thing is fed from fundamental steam headers.”
The 650-kW pilot will present 30% to 40% of the brewery’s complete steam load, Collins mentioned, with the usual temperature of 165 levels Celsius.
“All of our recipes’ boil occasions are based mostly on that steam temperature,” Collins mentioned. “At this elevation we boil slightly bit decrease. You get the mash to boil and boil it for a particular time to get a specific taste relying on the beer we would like.”
The brewery additionally makes use of the steam to warmth up fluids and caustic acids for cleansing and for pasteurizing the beer.
“We’re making ready now for {the electrical} infrastructure to help a carbon dioxide restoration challenge and the warmth pump,” Collins mentioned. “We’re just about tapped for electrical distribution. We’d like a bigger transformer and fundamental distribution panel that can help the warmth pump and different initiatives.”
As outside temperatures fall, and there may be much less warmth within the air, the effectivity of warmth pumps declines they usually labor extra. “We must drive the compressors tougher and we could take an electrical penalty,” Collins mentioned.
“A number of days a 12 months our boilers are going to work laborious,” Stark mentioned, “however within the summers, they work a lot much less laborious.”
AtmosZero will take what they study at New Belgium, Collins mentioned, and make “tweaks” to the warmth pump on its method to a market product. “Then we will probably be first in line for the primary business manufacturing model.”