Recovery and Valorisation of Energy from Wastewater Using a Water Source Heat Pump at the Glasgow Subway: Potential for Similar Underground Environments

Abstract

An installation of a Water Source Heat Hump (WSHP) at Glasgow’s Underground Station, has been using the subsurface wastewater ingress to heat the office at St. George’s Cross station. The performance of the Glasgow Subway’s new heating system was observed for a few months. The energy output readings are being presented. An average coefficient of performance (CoP) of 2.5 and a 60% energy input reduction for the heating system based on the old heating system’s energy demand indicates the actual system’s performance. The purpose of this research is to detect the likelihood of implementing the same setup in similar underground environments where the excess wastewater may support a viable and eco-friendly heating system. Fifteen cities across Europe have been identified and presented, with the adequate water quantities, where similar heating systems may be applied. The output of this study indicates not only the financial benefit but also the energy and carbon reduction of this trial. It highlights main subjects which were encountered in such a challenging subway system. Future steps to commercialize the excess heat energy output are explored together with opportunities to promote the same setup in similar cases.

Model-Based Contract Design for Low Energy Waste Heat Contracts: The Route to Pricing

“…Deymi-Dashtebayaz et al assess the COP values of heat pumps used for heat recovery from data centers and find that high values are possible, with the choice of refrigerant being a key factor [21]. The COP of heat recovery from wastewater in a metro station in Glasgow is investigated by Ninikas et al and a time-averaged value of 2.5 is estimated [22].…”

Underutilised Resources in Urban Environments

“…Source-segregated waste destined for energetic valorisation is considered a source of renewable energy; four out of the seven manuscripts which address solid wastes are closely linked to renewable energy, and therefore fall into both categories of circular economy and renewable energy. In addition, another work studies the recovery of waste heat from urban infrastructure [10], and thus combines an uncommon circular economy approach based on heat valorisation with the search for more sustainable energy schemes. Two contributions explicitly focus on more widespread adoption of renewable energies in cities [11,12].…”

“…The publication of Ninikas et al [10] introduces a new perspective to the Special Issue. The above-discussed contributions focus on the valorisation of a specific solid material stream, while Ninikas et al [10] study energy valorisation, namely the valorisation of waste heat contained in urban wastewater, which usually is not given attention. The researchers successfully recovered energy from wastewater using a water heat pump and they implemented a valorisation scheme in the subway system of Glasgow.…”

Simulation of the Use of Ground and Air Source Heat Pumps in Different Climatic Conditions on the Example of Selected Cities: Warsaw, Madrid, Riga, and Rome

“…They can transfer heat from natural resources in the human environment, such as air, ground, and water, as well as from sources like industrial or domestic waste [1]. Current research is largely focused on hybrid systems that use heat pumps in combination with solar collectors (SC) or photovoltaic panels (PV) [8][9][10][11][12][13][14], as well as on recovering waste heat and raising its temperature to more useful levels [15][16][17][18][19]. Such solutions allow the increase of energy and economic efficiency of heating and cooling rooms, while bringing significant benefits to the environment.…”