Calefa Oy releases waste heat-powered steam heat pump

Finland’s heat pump company Calefa Oy has launched a new waste heat-powered steam heat pump.

Dubbed AmbiSteam, the modular, turnkey system can reportedly produce process steam above 5 bar. It has been piloted over the past year in an undisclosed site.

“So far, steam has only been produced with combustion-based technologies or electric steam generators, whose efficiency is many times lower than that of a steam heat pump,” says Calefa CEO Petri Vuori. “SteamLevel steam heat pump technology will be a central part of future energy systems.”

The AmbiSteam solution is based on the company’s SteamLevel heat pump and now also uses waste heat. According to the company, it may be used in the food, chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, forest, pulp, and battery industries. Across all of them, stream demand ranges from 300 kW to 5 MW.

“A modular plant can be quickly integrated into an industrial facility’s systems without a lengthy construction phase,” the company said, without providing further technical details. “A large part of the work related to AmbiSteam can be done during normal industrial production. The heat pump plant and pipelines can be prepared and connected to the system at a suitable moment.”