As part of the planned climate neutrality by 2045, Germany must reduce CO2 emissions. The planned reduction affects the chemical and pharmaceutical industries as they are responsible for a significant amount of energy consumption and this CO2 emissions. One way to reduce CO2 emissions is to electrify chemical and pharmaceutical processes, ideally with renewable electricity having lower carbon footprint, for example by integrating heat pumps. This involves using electrical energy to transform waste heat from a lower temperature level to a higher temperature level. The heat that is then released can be used as process heat and replace conventional process heat, which is mainly generated from fossil fuels.

There are various challenges when integrating heat pumps into chemical processes, for example whether the integration should take place at process or utility level. Other challenges may also arise, depending on the type of process. In the case of non-continuous processes, the challenge for conventional heat integration and the integration of heat pumps is that the respective heat sources and heat sinks are only available at certain times. To utilize heat pumps, it is necessary to examine and evaluate their integration potential.