Meet your steam needs with energy-efficient heat recovery
How HighLift heat pumps reduce your dependence on fossil fuels – and your operational costs
The food and beverage industry needs heat. In fact, heat represents the majority of the energy consumption in food plants. And as it most often comes in the form of steam1, which conventionally is generated by the combustion of fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil and coal, plants are dependent on fossil fuel combustion boilers.
But now, there’s another way to meet your need for steam. By generating new energy from recovered process waste heat, the HighLift heat pump by Olvondo Technology™ reduces your dependency on fossil fuels – and creates new possibilities for increased energy efficiency through electrified steam generation. The unique design makes the HighLift heat pump adaptable to a wide variety of production and facility needs. This means it can be integrated into specific processing lines or the general steam system.
"The pump is able to generate both ice water and steam simultaneously"
“A HighLift heat pump can operate with a wide range of heat source temperatures to generate high-temperature hot water or steam,” says Mohammad Mahmoud, a product manager at Tetra Pak. “It’s really flexible in terms of what it can work with, so you can integrate it in many different food and beverage applications.”
The heat pump is made available through our partnership with Olvondo Technology. It is a collaboration rooted in a joint effort to support you as our customer in meeting your energy efficiency goals.
“And the flexibility isn’t limited to applications, it is also about what it can produce,” Mohammad Mahmoud adds. “For example, the pump is able to generate both ice water and steam simultaneously by recovering energy from low temperature heat sources such as the ice water system, if the customer also has an increased demand for cooling.”
The patented mechanics of the HighLift heat pump:
1. Process waste heat is recovered from a low-temperature source such as an ice water system.
2. An electric motor drives the thermodynamic cycle and increases the temperature of the recovered waste heat.
3. This enables “high lifts” – high-temperature output in the form of steam.
4. The steam can be used in various applications throughout the plant.
HighLift heat pump applications:
- General utility systems
- Direct UHT
- Indirect UHT
- Cleaning-in-place (CIP)
- Pasteurization
- Drying
- Evaporation
"The pump lets you electrify your steam generation. This is both cost- and energy efficient."
The benefits of electrifying your heat process
“The pump lets you electrify your steam generation. This is both cost- and energy-efficient; you get more kilowatts of steam out of every kilowatt of electricity you put in, and you can also reduce utility consumption costs2,” says Mohammad Mahmoud.
Savings are not just financial: lower consumption of fossil fuels equals reduced greenhouse gas emissions3.
Efficient installation, efficient in the long run
The HighLift heat pump is a turnkey solution, tailored to your specific needs. Our experts ensure that the pump is integrated into your processes and optimised for your environment. Once installed, a condition monitoring system makes it easy to keep track of the performance of your heat pump. Sensors located on the equipment provides 24/7 real-time information, making it possible to identify potential issues as well as opportunities for further optimisation.
Case studies: how HighLift heat pumps save company resources
The HighLift heat pump opens up new possibilities to reduce costs. The savings are uniquely yours, as they depend on your specific application and energy prices in your location. But to give you an idea, here is a couple of scenarios that show the potential impact of the pump.
Scenario 1
Fictive scenario where a HighLift heat pump replaces a natural gas boiler in a dairy. Cost calculation based on energy prices in France.
Calculation based on a natural gas boiler with an efficiency of 85%, operating for 7,000 hours per year. Th heat pump that replaces it is presumed to utilise tower water at 50°C as heat source (i.e., energy recovered from a waste heat stream at 50°C) and to provide 4 bar(g) of steam (~150°C).
Cost calculation presumes a natural gas price of €0.07/kWh and an electricity price of €0.12/kWh. The total cost also factors in the reductions in emissions, based on Q1 2025 ETS prices of approximately €70 per tonne.
Scenario 2
Fictive scenario where two HighLift heat pumps are used to generate steam in a dairy using direct UHT. Cost calculation based on energy prices in Sweden.
Calculation based on a direct UHT line (in Sweden) producing 16,000 litres of milk per hour and operating 6,000 hours per year, using two HighLift heat pumps to generate steam at 2,100kg per hour.
Cost calculation presumes a market fossil fuel cost of €0.09 per kWh as compared to a market electricity cost of €0.10 per kWh, based on EU data for 2023 Swedish energy prices. The total cost also factors in the reductions in emissions, based on Q1 2025 ETS prices of approximately €70 per tonne
HighLift heat pump by Olvondo Technology™
Heat pump technologies offer an efficient solution for recovering process waste heat. We work with you to identify relevant energy waste streams in your production, and design a solution optimised to your particular needs.
Learn more about HighLift heat pumps by Olvondo Technology
1 Globally, heat represents 72% of all industrial energy demands. In the food and beverage industry, steam needs regularly surpass more than 50% of a plant’s total energy consumption, as in the case for applications as diverse as mixed dairy, beverage, direct UHT, powder, cheese and more. Source: Giner Santonja, Germán, Panagiotis Karlis, Kristine Raunkjær Stubdrup, Thomas Brinkmann, and Serge Roudier. European Commission (2019). JRC Science for Policy Report: Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for the Food, Drink and Milk Industries.
2 Exact savings will depend on the relationship between the cost of electricity and the cost of relevant fossil fuels in your particular market. Our experts can help you in calculating the payback time for your installation.
3 In markets where renewable electricity is available.