DAC Waste-Heat Utilisation Factor

Quantify the fraction of a direct air capture system's thermal load that can be met with recovered waste heat after delivery losses and auxiliary penalties.

Hourly-equivalent thermal energy available to the DAC unit after onsite recovery.
Thermal energy required to run the DAC sorbent regeneration cycle over the same period.
Defaults to 90%. Accounts for piping and heat-exchanger losses between source and contactor.
Defaults to 0. Convert blower or pumping power to thermal-equivalent penalty if desired.

Preliminary scoping aid for DAC integration. Validate with detailed process simulations and heat-recovery design.

Examples

  • 180 MWh waste heat, 220 MWh demand, 92% efficiency, 8 MWh aux penalty ⇒ 69.27% served with 67.60 MWh deficit
  • 140 MWh waste heat, 120 MWh demand, efficiency blank, no aux penalty ⇒ 105.00% served with 12.00 MWh surplus

FAQ

Can I use annual totals?

Yes. The ratio holds for any consistent time base as long as waste heat and demand use the same period.

How do I estimate efficiency?

Start with 85–95% depending on insulation quality and exchanger approach temperature; refine with measured supply and return temperatures.

What if utilisation exceeds 100%?

The calculator caps utilisation at 100% and reports the surplus, indicating heat that could serve storage or nearby loads.

Do I need to include electrical penalties?

Optional. Convert parasitic power to thermal equivalent using your heat pump COP or boiler efficiency if you want a net balance.

Additional Information

  • Delivery efficiency defaults to 90% to reflect insulated piping and heat-exchanger losses.
  • Auxiliary penalties subtract from delivered heat to reflect electricity consumed by blowers or pumps.
  • Utilisation is capped at 100% and displayed to two decimal places.
  • Balance line reports both remaining deficit and any thermal surplus in MWh.

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