Pre-Feasibility of Water Heat Recovery in an Industrial Building Using an ATES Heat Pump System

Rising inflation and geopolitical tensions pose significant challenges to gas-importing countries, necessitating a reduction in gas consumption. This pre-feasibility study explores the potential of utilizing wasted cooling water heat within an open-loop Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) system to improve the energy efficiency of an industrial building. The system achieves this by recovering thermal energy from the warm water basin through a water-to-water heat pump, allowing the building to be heated without relying on direct gas-fired make-up air. Both sides of the heat pump are utilized: heating from the condenser and cooling from the evaporator heat exchanger. This approach not only eliminates gas consumption but also reduces the electrical demand of the cooling tower, resulting in significant energy savings and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. While the technology of using a heat pump for simultaneous heating and cooling is typically employed in residential buildings, utilizing a natural heat source and sink, this study aims to explore the adaptation of this technology for industrial buildings. It leverages the warm cooling water basin as the heat source and the cold cooling water basin as the heat sink.