Turning waste into treasure, driving efficiency and support｜KSB's intelligent pumping systems enable climate-neutral urban heating

KSB Intelligent Pumping System

Empowering climate-neutral heating in cities

As the world accelerates toward carbon neutrality, the green transition of urban heating has become a top priority

.

The German city of Herne plans to achieve climate-neutral heating by 2045, with the recycling of industrial waste heat becoming one of its key strategies.

Recently, in a landmark district heating project in Hårnæ, KSB successfully integrated the industrial waste heat from a large chemical plant into the urban heating network through its advanced pumping and intelligent control technologies. The project was successfully completed in 2025, fully demonstrating the pivotal role of KSB systems in driving the transition to sustainable heating solutions.

Rising to the Challenge         

Supply-demand mismatch and pipeline network barriers

Chemical plants generate substantial waste heat from water vapor condensation during production processes. Through heat exchangers, this waste heat originally supplied 4 megawatts of climate-neutral thermal energy to approximately 1,000 surrounding households.

However, the system has long faced two major pain points.

❎ There is an extremely severe mismatch between supply and demand.

Under optimal operating conditions, chemical plants can generate over 8 megawatts of waste heat, far exceeding the energy needs of surrounding residential areas, resulting in significant waste of clean energy.

❎ There is no reliable backup.

When chemical plants cease operations for maintenance, heating companies are forced to activate expensive fossil fuel steam boilers to maintain heating supply.

To address this issue, the heating company decided to connect the chemical plant's pipeline network to the central city's main pipeline network, which is located merely 500 meters away, thereby achieving energy interoperability: excess waste heat is fed back to the city center, while insufficient waste heat is supplemented by backup support from the city center.

▼

However, technical challenges emerged—the operating parameters of the two pipeline networks were vastly different, making direct grid integration impossible：

🏭️industrial plant pipeline network (direct supply to users)

Operates at low temperature and low pressure, with a temperature below 90°C, a static pressure of approximately 3 bar, and a maximum water supply pressure of 4.5 bar.

🏙️ Jibin City Central Network (Heating provided by the heat exchange station)

The system operates under high temperature and high pressure conditions, with a water supply temperature reaching up to 130°C and a static pressure of approximately 12 bar.

The way to break the deadlock     

Smart isolation | Seamless scheduling  

To address the challenge of connecting pipeline networks with different technical principles in parallel, the solution involves establishing an intelligent heat exchange station equipped with two 8-megawatt plate heat exchangers, which achieves both "hydraulic isolation" and efficient heat transfer.

The brain and heart of this complex system are precisely the pump and control system custom-designed by KSB for it.

The demand for district heating fluctuates significantly with seasons, weather conditions, and even time of day, while industrial waste heat generation depends on factory production capacity. To achieve dynamic balance under highly challenging operating conditions, KSB offers an optimal combination of software and hardware:

 Powerful pumping, delivering surging energy

On the pipeline network side of the chemical plant, KSB has installed four Etanorm 200-150-250 circulation pumps (equipped with gray cast iron pump housings and bronze impellers). These pumps are driven by 4-pole asynchronous motors rated at 45 kW each, delivering robust performance and stable operation.

 AI-controlled, precise frequency conversion

The core of the entire system lies in the KSB customized pump control system. The pump motor operates in super-synchronous mode (up to 60 Hz) via the KSB PumpDrive R frequency converter. This control system not only precisely regulates the circulation pumps on the chemical plant side but also manages the return pumps supplying water to the municipal pipeline network, ensuring the entire system maintains optimal flow rates at all times.

Outstanding Performance

Comprehensive protection with dynamic response

powered by the KSB intelligent system, this heating hub demonstrates exceptional operational intelligence:

The pump control system designed by KSB

Automatically adjust the operating status flexibly based on requirements

Real-time voltage stabilization and safety protection

The KSB system not only drives the water circulation but also maintains stable pipeline pressure in real time, effectively preventing hazardous conditions such as overpressure, overheating, negative pressure, or dry operation.

Precise monitoring of the "most vulnerable point"

The system specifically monitors critical points in the pipeline network (i.e., areas where pressure or temperature is most likely to be insufficient), ensuring comprehensive heating coverage with no blind spots.

Flexible switching eliminates water hammer

During the mode switching between "waste heat output" and "standby input," abrupt start-stop operations of the water pump can easily induce pressure surges in the pipeline network. To address this, KSB has incorporated a dynamic start-stop ramp function into the system programming. This ensures a smooth transition in pump rotational speed, effectively protecting valves and pipelines from load shock.

Climate-neutral heating requires not only the development of new energy sources, but also the application of intelligent and reliable fluid technologies to fully harness existing energy potential and seamlessly integrate it into current systems.

Although the transformation journey is fraught with technical challenges, KSB's intelligent pumping solutions simplify complex scheduling into daily operations, delivering warmth to countless households—the ultimate solution for enhancing quality of life. On the path toward achieving global climate goals, KSB remains your trusted professional partner.