The potential of urban wastewater heat: The feasibility analysis of using wastewater source heat pump

There is a large potential in the heat losses from the urban wastewater. By integrating a heat pump to utilize this heat, we can produce a higher temperature heat supply while maintaining a low temperature-lift requirement. This leads to the possibility of directly regenerating the hot water supply through wastewater heat recovery. Based on the plan of Xi´an urban wastewater source heat pump (WWSHP) system, the discussion and summary about wastewater characteristic parameters were made according to the investigation and analysis on the status of five wastewater treatment plants in Xi´an. The scheme of using WWSHP system for central heating instead of traditional heating supply system was discussed in this paper. Taking an integrated residential area in Xi´an as an example, the feasibility analysis on using urban untreated wastewater source heat pump technology for heating and cooling was discussed in detail.