Technological and commercial assessment for Heat-Pump usage in Maritime Application
Ongoing developments in the market and from regulatory side as well as the rising costs for fuel and environtmental impact some of the many drivers towards a emission reduced and in future carbon neutral shipbuilding. Especially in the passenger based maritime field, the energy consumption for air conditioning and heating is on of the biggest factors and provides significant potential for a beneficial usage of environmental friendly heat-pump solutions. The paper/presentations discusses challenges and technical solutions regarding the implementation of heatpumps in maritime application, especially ocean and river cruise ships. Therefore, conceptual work, technological developments and industrial experiences are summarized. The survey considers the technical integration regarding operation profiles and scenarios with thermodynamic and electrical efficiency and evaluation of technologies and system integrations with respect to current and expected regulations and safety restrictions. From technical perspective different heat-pump technologies are evaluated together with the chilled water and heating water system compatibility. Supply/return conditions, storage concepts within the system are combined with load scenarios and simultaneous effects. Regarding the electrical compatibility with supply grids and automation, smart demand reply and DC technologies are subject of investigation. In parallel the paper targets Life Cycle impact and cost and total operation costs with maritime operation profiles for different heat pump applications, sizes and system designs. The findings are feeded with actual project data as well as R&D results from funded cooperation projects for efficient and sustainable cabin and accomodation areas on passenger vessels.