Helium Heat Pump Finalist in Empire Technology Prize
- Taher Shehabi
- Jul 19, 2024
- 4 min read
The Empire Technology Prize, launched to promote low-carbon heating solutions for high-rise buildings, named seven finalists, including Enerin from Norway for its helium high-temperature heat pump (HTHP). This helium HTHP can produce steam and domestic hot water (see explanation below) using air or water as a heat source, proven effective in recent tests at a biogas facility in Norway. The initiative aims to advance technology to decarbonise New York’s buildings. Each finalist will receive US$250k with the chance to win additional funding and a grand prize for the most impactful project. Previously, this concept was purely theoretical, but such examples validate its application, and we expect this to boost helium demand over the coming decade. In a high-temperature heat pump, helium is used as a working fluid to transfer heat. The system absorbs heat from the environment, which causes the helium to expand and increase in temperature. This hot helium then transfers its heat to water, converting it into steam. The cooled helium is then compressed and recycled through the system to repeat the process. This innovative use of helium allows the heat pump to efficiently generate the high temperatures needed to produce steam for various applications.
Article:
Three of the seven finalist companies for the Empire Technology Prize, an initiative of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) that seeks to advance low-carbon heating system retrofit technology for high-rise buildings, are natural refrigerant heat pumps.
The Empire Technology Prize was launched in October 2023 and challenged companies to develop prototype heating or distribution systems that could be installed without displacing occupants in buildings seven stories or higher. The Clean Fight, a non-profit climate tech accelerator and administrator of the Empire Technology Prize, will match finalists with New York-based real estate companies for pilot projects.
“New York is advancing the latest technology and innovations to reduce emissions and build cleaner, greener buildings,” said Governor Kathy Hochul.
The big three: Of the three natural refrigerant heat pumps, two use CO2 (R744) as a refrigerant and one uses helium (R704).
Minnesota-based OEM Flow Environmental Systems and New York-based HVAC design and implementation firm Ambient Enterprises and contractor Gil-Bar were named finalists for Flow’s CO2 high-temperature heat pump (HTHP). The company’s CO2 HTHP is capable of heating water to 180°F (82°C), can also provide domestic hot water (DHW) and cooling and can use air or water as a heat source.
Pittsburgh-based Clean Heat Technologies, a division of Thar Energy, was recognized as a finalist for its water-source CO2 heat pump that generates steam. Up to 80% of New York City’s multifamily buildings are still heated by steam, with the vast majority produced by fossil fuel-powered boilers. According to NYSERDA, Clean Heat Technologies has developed six prototypes of its CO2 heat pump.
Enerin, based in Lysaker, Norway, was named a finalist for its helium HTHP, which can produce both steam and DHW using air or water as a heat source. The company recently conducted a successful test of its HTHP at a biogas facility in Norway that saw it produce steam at 392°F (200°C).
Honorable mention: Hydronic Shell Technologies of Queens and multifamily retrofit company Cycle Retrotech of Brooklyn were also named finalists for the former’s Hydronic Shell HVAC distribution system.
The Hydronic Shell system is made up of modular panels containing water-filled pipes that connect to a rooftop-based heating/cooling system. The system is designed to enable older buildings to install new heating/cooling systems without the need for an extensive retrofit of the existing distribution apparatus.
NaturalRefrigeants.com has reached out to the other three finalists – Johnson Controls, AtmosZero and Miller Proctor Nickolas – to confirm the refrigerant their entries use and will update this article as new information becomes available.
The prize: Each finalist will receive $250,000 (€229,043) and will have the potential to be awarded up to $750,000 (€687,131) “as they achieve milestones in progressing their solutions over the next year.”
An additional $2 million (€1.8 million) is available to offset pilot project installation costs.
The project deemed to have the greatest potential to reduce building carbon emissions will be awarded $1 million (€916,650), with the winner to be announced in June 2025.
What it means for NatRefs: The Empire Technology Prize presents an opportunity for natural refrigerant heat pumps to play a major role in decarbonizing New York’s building stock. NYSERDA’s goal is for 85% of the state’s 6 million buildings, which account for one third of its greenhouse gas emissions, to use clean heating and cooling technologies by 2050.
The city of New York has a more aggressive goal: net-zero emissions from the city’s largest buildings, those exceeding 25,000ft2 (2,322m2), by 2050.
New York State’s Department of Environmental Conversation (DEC) is also considering a revision to its HFC regulations that would see a GWP limit of 10 set for many new HVAC&R systems by 2034.
Quotable: “Reducing emissions from the buildings sector will only be possible with ingenuity and technology innovation, which are at the center of the Empire Technology Prize competition,” said Doreen Harris, NYSERDA CEO. “NYSERDA congratulates the seven finalists who will now advance their low-carbon retrofit solutions in the New York State market with the potential to make their mark on the industry through these demonstrations.”
