📋 Case Study
Industrial Park Co-Location: Steel Mill Waste Heat Integration
High-temp (200°C) low-grade waste heat integration without compromising stack lifetime
🏗️ Project Overview
3.2 MW alkaline electrolyzer co-located with blast furnace in Duisburg, Germany
🎯 Challenge
High-temp (200°C) low-grade waste heat integration without compromising stack lifetime
🔧 Design Approach
Two-stage thermal recovery: preheated feedwater via shell-and-tube exchanger + low-pressure steam injection into electrolyte loop
📐 Key Calculations
Feedwater Preheat ΔT
T_out - T_in
Result: 85°C
Reduces electrical energy demand by 11%
Steam Injection Mass Flow
Q_waste / h_fg
Result: 124 kg/h
Maintains optimal KOH concentration at 28 wt%
📊 Results
14.3% reduction in specific energy consumption (4.1 kWh/Nm³); 22% lower CAPEX via shared infrastructure💡 Lessons Learned
- •Steam quality critical—must be <1 ppm TDS
- •Alkaline stacks tolerate wider temperature swings than PEM
- •Shared emergency shutdown logic essential
✅ Key Takeaways
- 1Steam quality critical—must be <1 ppm TDS
- 2Alkaline stacks tolerate wider temperature swings than PEM
- 3Shared emergency shutdown logic essential