The New Type Of Wastewater Source Heat Pump Technology Has Made Its Debut, Leading The Way To A New Era Of Green Energy Supply.

Recently, a breakthrough sewage source heat pump technology has been successfully applied in the China Construction Technology Industrial Park on the High-tech Avenue in Wuhan's Optics Valley, attracting widespread attention. On a sweltering summer day, when you step into this industrial park, a refreshing coolness greets you. The main source of this comfortable cold air is the treated urban tail water from the sewage treatment plant.
The comprehensive energy station of China State Construction Technology Park was put into use in June this year. Despite occupying only 3,000 square meters, it can meet over 90% of the centralized cooling and heating demands of the approximately 370,000-square-meter park, covering various business forms such as hotels, office buildings, venues, and commercial streets. Since its operation, the park's electricity consumption has decreased by 18.2% compared to the same period last year, demonstrating remarkable energy-saving effects.
The principle of this technology is not complicated. The tail water from urban sewage and wastewater after purification treatment and meeting the standards has a relatively constant temperature. In summer, the temperature of the tail water is generally between 20 and 26 degrees Celsius, which is lower than the ground ambient temperature. The energy station uses four centrifugal sewage source heat pump units to extract the cold energy from the tail water and convert it into cool air for air conditioning. In winter, the temperature of the tail water is between 13 and 16 degrees Celsius, which can be used to heat the cold water in the air conditioning system, achieving centralized heating. The used tail water can then return to the original pipeline for discharge.
Compared with traditional heating and cooling methods, the sewage source heat pump technology has obvious advantages. It does not require the construction of large boiler rooms, coal yards, ash yards, chimneys, cooling towers and other facilities. It not only saves costs and land, but also can be "multi-functional", with one set of equipment meeting the needs of buildings to be warm in winter and cool in summer. In addition, the comprehensive energy station also applies a smart energy management platform, combined with rooftop photovoltaic, charging piles and other clean energy facilities, forming a multi-energy complementary system. It is expected to save 1,450 tons of standard coal and reduce 3,600 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, equivalent to planting 201,000 trees.
At present, provinces and cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Shaanxi have all issued relevant documents to promote the application of sewage source heat pump technology. Among them, by the end of 2024, the area of heating implemented by Beijing using reclaimed water (sewage) source heat pumps has reached 2.52 million square meters, an increase of 1.24 million square meters compared to 2020. In May this year, Harbin also approved a sewage source heat pump heating project.
A relevant official from China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Urban Investment and Operation Co., Ltd. stated: "The sewage source heat pump technology turns urban tail water into energy, featuring environmental friendliness, high efficiency and energy conservation, as well as stable operation. It is worth promoting on a large scale. We hope to provide a demonstration 'model' for the comprehensive utilization of urban sewage and zero-carbon clean heating." With the promotion and application of this technology, it is expected to offer new solutions for the green development of more cities in the future, contributing to the achievement of carbon reduction targets. Let's look forward to the full arrival of a new era of green energy supply together.