# Heat Pump Studio > Heat Pump Studio explains an industrial heat pump on one worked plant, then is a free browser calculator that tells you whether a heat duty suits an industrial heat pump and what the heat would cost, from two temperatures and the fuel it replaces. Canonical: https://joulewise.com/studios/heat-pump Publisher: jouleWise Advisory Services Pvt Ltd, Noida, India · Spain Reviewed: 2026-10-10 Status: free planning tool; figures are indicative, assumptions stated ## In short A two-line beverage plant heats its CIP water (40 → 96 °C, about 391 kW) with 200 °C steam from a 2 t/h biomass boiler. Biomass at ₹9.5/kg puts about 2.8 kWh into the water per kg after boiler and distribution losses, so each kWh of hot water costs about ₹3.39 — ₹79.6 lakh a year for this duty. A heat pump takes heat from the chiller's 35 °C condenser water and delivers 96 °C water at a COP of about 3: it boils refrigerant in the evaporator, compresses it with a piston compressor to about 115 °C, condenses it to heat the CIP water, and expands it back to cold through a valve. On ₹5.5/kWh electricity a kWh of hot water costs ₹1.83, about ₹43 lakh a year — ₹36.6 lakh (46%) lower. Because heat costs the electricity price ÷ COP, green electricity at ₹4.1/kWh brings it to ₹1.37. The boiler stays on standby. Illustrative; energy cost only. The calculator then takes your own numbers: enter the heat source temperature, the delivery temperature the process needs, the annual useful heat, the boiler fuel and efficiency, and the electricity the heat pump would run on. The studio returns the coefficient of performance (COP) at that temperature lift, the cost of a kWh of useful heat against the fuel, the annual saving, the electricity the supply plan must carry, and the carbon avoided — which depends on whether the electricity is grid or contracted green. Every input is a slider, every result updates live, and the address bar carries the scenario so a link shares it. ## Facts - Worked case: 2 filling lines, CIP water 40 → 96 °C at 6 m³/h, 6,000 h a year: about 391 kW and 2,346 MWh of heat a year. - Today: 200 °C steam from a 2 t/h biomass boiler; biomass ₹9.5/kg, 3,800 kcal/kg, 72% boiler efficiency, 12% lost in distribution: ₹3.39 per kWh of hot water, about 838 t of biomass and ₹79.6 lakh a year. - Heat pump: COP 3 from 35 °C chiller water to 96 °C; about 130 kW of electricity; ₹1.83 per kWh of heat at ₹5.5/kWh; ₹43.0 lakh a year; ₹36.6 lakh (46%) lower. - On green electricity at ₹4.1/kWh the heat costs ₹1.37 per kWh. - The COP curve is anchored to the published points of COP 3.4 at 80 °C and 2.3 at 135 °C delivery from a 30 °C source, and scaled by the Carnot ratio for other source temperatures; a warmer source such as a chiller condenser or recovered process heat raises the COP. - The practical ceiling is 120 °C delivery. Above it the studio shows the physics but states that the duty stays on fuel in practice. - Default fuels and prices: piped natural gas ₹55/SCM (10.4 kWh and 1.95 kg CO₂ per SCM), diesel ₹90/litre, furnace oil ₹62/litre, coal ₹8.5/kg, biomass briquette ₹8/kg. Boiler efficiency defaults to 85%. - Default electricity options: DISCOM tariff ₹8.50/kWh at a grid factor of 0.716 kg CO₂/kWh; green open access ₹5.50/kWh; solar blocks with a thermal store ₹4.00/kWh. Contracted green electricity is treated as zero-emission on a market basis. - Default scenario: 30 °C source, 85 °C delivery, 20 GWh-th a year of useful heat displacing piped natural gas on green open access, giving a 55 K lift, COP about 3.3, heat at about ₹1.67/kWh-th against ₹6.22 on gas, and about 4,400 t CO₂ avoided a year. ## Assumptions and limits - No capital cost, integration work, retrofit sequencing or header assessment is included; those come from a site survey with portable heat metering. - Electricity prices and fuel prices are indicative defaults; replace them with your tariff and your fuel contract. - A heat pump on grid electricity cuts fuel cost but barely cuts carbon against gas at India's grid emission factor; the carbon case depends on the electricity it runs on. ## Questions and answers **How can a heat pump give more heat than the electricity it uses?** It moves heat rather than making it. The electricity runs the compressor; most of the heat delivered was already in the source water. At COP 3, 1 kWh of electricity plus 2 kWh from the chiller water gives 3 kWh of hot water. **Where does the heat come from in a beverage plant?** Usually the chiller or refrigeration plant, which rejects heat at around 30–35 °C to its cooling towers. The heat pump takes that heat instead, which also lightens the chiller's load. **Do we remove the boiler?** No. It stays on standby for the CIP duty and for any steam the plant still needs; the heat pump takes the base load. **What COP should an industrial heat pump achieve?** It depends almost entirely on the temperature lift. From a 30 °C source, roughly 3.4 at 80 °C delivery falling to about 2.3 at 135 °C. A recovered 45 °C source is worth more than any equipment choice because it narrows the lift. **Can a heat pump make steam?** Low-pressure steam within the temperature range, to about 120 °C. High-pressure steam for sterilisation, stenters or reactors above the ceiling stays on fuel, or moves to solar thermal or electrode heat. **Does a heat pump cut carbon?** Only if the electricity is clean. On the grid emission factor a COP-3 heat pump roughly matches gas for carbon while cutting the bill sharply. On contracted green electricity its heat is close to zero-carbon. **What does the heat cost?** Electricity price divided by COP. At ₹5.50/kWh green open access and COP 3.3 that is about ₹1.67 per kWh of useful heat, against about ₹6.22 from a piped natural gas boiler at 85% efficiency and ₹55/SCM. **Is the result a quotation?** No. It is a planning aid with every assumption on the page. A real case is built from a four-week baseline with portable heat metering on the loops that matter. ## Related - [Industrial heat](https://joulewise.com/solutions/industrial-heat) - [Why temperature lift sets the cost of heat](https://joulewise.com/insights/temperature-lift-sets-heat-pump-cost) - [Data Centre Loop Studio](https://joulewise.com/studios/dc-loop) --- jouleWise · https://joulewise.com/ · sales@joulewise.com · +91 84483 22771