Kiilto: Heating a large factory with waste heat

Kiilto, a manufacturer of products for the chemicals industry, has set itself clear environmental goals and aims to make all its operations carbon-neutral by 2028.

This means that the company will reduce its energy consumption by one-fifth by 2025, and will have fully switched to renewable energy by the end of that decade.

Kiilto took a big step towards increased energy efficiency and use of renewable energy at its plant in Lempäälä, southern Finland with the installation of a new heat pump system that captures the heat generated in the glue manufacturing process. This recovered energy is now used to heat the factory buildings, which have a total floor area of more than three hectares.

A geothermal heating system has also been introduced at the factory, which in addition to heat also provides the necessary cooling.

The new heat pump system reduces energy consumption at the factory by 1,800 megawatt hours annually– enough energy to heat around 180 detached houses for a year. And because the new system replaces the use of natural gas for heating, carbon dioxide emissions at the Kiilto factory have been reduced by approximately 310 tonnes per year. This is roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide that would be produced by driving two million kilometres in the average car.

Text by: Matti Remes
Photo by: Kiilto. Kuvassa tekninen päällikkö Vesa Juhannusvuori ja toimitusjohtaja Mikko Viljanmaa.