1 December 2026
Brussels, Belgium
#HPForum 2026
Award Ceremony
1 December 2026
SQUARE Brussels

Full-scale demonstration of a High-Temperature Heat Pump for a paper mill in Weißenborn

Competing in the category:

Large Heat Pump Award
1f0bcdb8-d7ef-4078-9872-dd66223eba3f
Location: Germany
Year of submission: 2026
Type of HP: SPH
Organisation: Fraunhofer IEG, Felix Schoeller GmbH & Co. KG (industrial site) SPH Sustainable Process Heat GmbH (technology provider)
Sector of application: Industrial
Funding from: EU funds

The implementation of a 1,2MW High-Temperature Heat Pump in a paper mill from Felix Schoeller upgrades unused waste heat from the drying process and supplies the drying process with low-pressure steam at a temperature level of 123°C (2,3bara). In order to overcome the temperature lift of over 80K a cascaded heat pump solution with two parallel compressors in each refrigerant circuit has been designed, manufactured and successfully implemented as a container solution on the premises of Felix Schoeller. In comparison to other HTHP installations in the industry the double stage HP in Weißenborn is using a volatile heat source with temperature variations from 30°C to 70°C. Along the direct integration of the generated steam into the low-pressure drying section of the facility the volatility of the heat source highlights another challenge for a successful integration and operation of a thermal energy system with major decarbonisation potentials with respect to flexible operation in part- and full-load.

The industrial application of the cascaded HTHP clearly shows how high system efficiency (COP 2-3) for the provision of process steam can be achieved with temperature lifts above 80 K. This represents a promising and future-proof aspect for the decarbonisation potential in energy-intensive industries and can be applied to other industrial processes with minimal adjustments. The specific savings potential of the installed system on this site regarding operating costs is approximately €23 per MWh of steam, and regarding CO2 emissions, 50 kg CO2 per MWh of steam. As a result, in addition to an innovative heat pump application with direct process integration, high system efficiency, and strong decarbonisation potential in the energy-intensive paper manufacturing industry, an economic criterion is fulfilled. Due to the successful and first-time application of the heat pump technology, a solid foundation has been established for the end user (Felix Schoeller) and for the scaled-up deployment of further HTHP systems. The deployed technology actively contributes to the company’s climate targets and represents a significant milestone for a decarbonised paper industry.

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