The streets are not paved with gold but ‘gold’ is flowing under them. Hardly anybody seems to know about the fact that right below the ground, in the sewers beneath your feet, there is a hidden and seldom used source of energy: domestic, municipal wastewater with a temperature of 55 degrees to 70 degrees F. Even during winter the wastewater temperature hardly ever drops below 50 degrees. This makes wastewater an excellent energy source for the operation of a heat pump. A heat exchanger is required to extract the heat energy contained within the wastewater. The heat exchanger transfers the thermal energy from the wastewater to the heat pump.

Huber’s ThermWin system

The HUBER ThermWin system uses a heat exchanger installed above ground to extract the energy contained within wastewater. A portion of the sewer water flows via an intake structure from the sewer line into a screen that retains coarse solids. This pre-screened wastewater is then pumped to the heat exchanger installed above ground, where it flows down through the heat exchanger unit. This creates continuously stable hydraulic conditions and ensures a controlled heat transfer within the heat exchanger where secondary circuit heating takes place. The secondary circuit is coupled with a heat pump. The cooled wastewater flows back to the sewer taking along the previously screened debris.

Download the brochure to learn more about ThermWin.