In the municipality of Alpignano, near Turin, the owners of Arcelor Mittal CLN - a company manufacturing and distributing steel products - have installed a WBT hydrothermal heat pump. This system has a heating output of 115 kW and a cooling output of 92 kW and produces thermal energy for heating in winter, cooling in summer and domestic hot water.
It also feeds the heating and air-conditioning systems, radiators in the changing rooms, shower rooms and common rooms, and the unit heaters in the warehouse. High-temperature hot water (80°C) is supplied to the system using groundwater from extraction and return wells.
The equipment was installed without any changes to the existing terminals and allowed for a reduction in NOx of 36 kg/year and over 50 t/year of CO2 on site.
The main objectives achieved are a significant reduction in energy consumption and costs, as well as sustainable heating in urban areas, thus eliminating the fossil fuel sources.
The all-Italian technology was implemented as part of the multi-year Enerplan project, within the Technology Pole of the Area Science Park in Trieste.
