TRIMET Aluminium SE and Iqony Fernwärme GmbH are launching the feed-in of industrial waste heat from the Essen aluminium smelter into Iqony’s district heating network. The carbon-neutral energy will further improve the environmental footprint of the already eco-friendly district heating supply in the region.
TRIMET will now feed approximately 31,000 megawatt-hours of unavoidable waste heat annually from the process heat of its electrolysis furnaces into Iqony’s district heating network, which supplies customers in Bottrop, Essen, and Gelsenkirchen. This amount covers the calculated demand of more than 5,500 households.
The use of industrial waste heat became possible because TRIMET had converted aluminium production to flexible adaptation to the fluctuating power supply from wind and solar systems. Heat exchangers specifically installed on the electrolysis furnaces capture the heat from the production process. Under high pressure, the water reaches an energy center via a pipe system, where it transfers its heat to the water in the district heating network. TRIMET installed a 1.6-kilometer pipe system on the plant premises in which 36 cubic meters of water circulate. Iqony laid approximately 700 meters of connecting pipeline linking the energy center with the connection point outside the plant premises.