Evaluation of heat pump solutions for offshore platforms – a case study

LowEmission Webinar - Evaluation of heat pump solutions for offshore platforms Electrification of petroleum production installations is one of the main strategies towards emission reduction and finally carbon neutrality from oil and gas production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. However, phasing out a gas turbine power plant will remove the main heat source of a processing facility. Abundant amounts of waste heat from gas turbine power plants are traditionally used to meet the heat demand which can be in the order of several MW. Direct use of electricity for heating will increase the electric power demand significantly in an environment where the supply is limited. A heat pump is a device where electric energy, together with a low-grade heat, can provide heat at higher temperatures with a low input of electric power. The topic of this case study was the application of high temperature heat pumps (HTHPs) to provide heating and cooling for oil and gas process streams. The main goal of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency of HTHPs as an alternative for direct electric heating and to show how heat pump technology can be integrated in petroleum production plants.