Gmunden High Temperature Heat Link R&D

The cement plant Gmunden has a waste heat potential of about 10 MW-th at 400°C. In the project, concepts and technologies are developed and analysed allowing the greatest possible CO₂ reduction. The waste heat from the industrial plant is to be conducted at a high temperature level via a 1.5 km long heat transport pipeline to large consumers in the urban area of Gmunden.

For the high-temperature heat extraction from cement waste gas, both dirty gas and hot gas filtration are analysed in combination with a clean gas heat exchanger.

The annual heat supply is a challenge since industrial companies have planned and unplanned production fluctuations which must be bridged in an economically and ecologically sustainable way by means of storage facilities. To maximise CO₂ savings, concepts with heat storage tanks of different types and sizes (from 4 MWh to 5500 MWh) are evaluated. The storage technology for long-term storage is developed in the project. In addition, an effort will be made to involve as many industrial customers as possible in the concept.

Based on the project’s analyses, the waste heat is transported in the form of steam over a distance of 1.5 kilometers, including non-operational ground, to potential industrial customers – this is also a novelty. Due to the high temperatures, this approach breaks new ground both technically and legally.

As the site is located in a tourist area near a lake, the highest possible environmental and safety standards must be achieved. Among the non-technical considerations, the topics of participation and regional added value have been identified.

The main objective of the project is to develop the technological approaches mentioned above and to evaluate them technically, economically and in terms of social acceptance. The foundations for an investment project planned for 2021 are to be laid.