Industrial manufacturing is at a turning point. The need to achieve greater energy efficiency while reducing operating costs and carbon emissions is accelerating across every sector — from food processing to pulp and paper.
Clean process heat, including that which is produced by steam-generating heat pumps, offers a powerful opportunity for this transformation.
Heat production makes up nearly 75% of energy demand in the industrial sector and accounts for about 20% of all global energy consumption, according to a report by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. This heat drives operations like drying, distillation, pasteurizing and chemical reactions but also contributes to the more than 20% of all global carbon emissions that come from the industrial sector.
About 40% of those emissions come from industrial heat production.
As companies try to reduce costs, streamline industrial processes, and lower carbon emissions, decarbonizing industrial process heat has emerged as a promising opportunity to meet these goals. This enables industrial facilities to implement innovative low- and zero-carbon heating solutions instead of using fossil fuels.
What Is Clean Process Heat and Why Is It Important?
Clean process heat refers to thermal energy generated from low-carbon or zero-emission sources such as renewable electricity or waste heat recovery. It powers the same processes as traditional systems with dramatically less environmental impact.
This type of heat can be delivered through steam or hot water, depending on facility needs.
What makes clean process heat essential is its ability to decarbonize without disruption. For sectors with high thermal demand—chemicals, ethanol, food and beverage, pulp and paper—clean process heat is a direct path to lowering Scope 1 emissions, improving operational efficiency, and insulating against rising fuel costs.
The Different Types of Clean Process Heat Systems
Renewable process heat can be generated and delivered in various ways, which lets facilities match solutions with their specific needs and energy sources. Here are some prominent methods for generating and delivering it:
Steam-generating heat pumps (SGHP)
Using electric-powered, energy-efficient process heating is a growing trend, as facilities seek to reduce their fossil fuel reliance. By integrating electrified heating solutions like the Skyven Arcturus steam-generating heat pump, which uses waste heat recovery to generate boiler-quality industrial steam, companies can harness electricity to improve efficiency and further reduce emissions.
Waste heat recovery
Waste heat recovery systems repurpose excess heat from industrial processes, improving overall energy efficiency. These systems are particularly beneficial for high-temperature processes, allowing facilities to reduce energy waste and carbon emissions by reusing heat that would otherwise be lost.
Clean process heat can be delivered through different mediums, primarily hot water or steam, depending on the facility’s requirements. This flexibility means that clean process heat can be smoothly integrated into existing manufacturing facilities or processes, helping manufacturers transition to sustainable solutions without a complete infrastructure overhaul.
By selecting the right type of clean process heat system—whether through SGHPs, renewable fuels, or waste heat recovery—industries can optimize energy use, lower operational costs, and significantly reduce their environmental impact.
MVR Steam-Generating Heat Pumps: The Most Efficient Path to Clean Process Heat
Among the technologies available to decarbonize industrial heat, steam-generating heat pumps (SGHPs) stand out for their energy efficiency, scalability, and compatibility with existing systems.
SGHPs work by capturing low-grade waste heat from processes like drying, cooling, or condensation and upgrading it to produce boiler-quality steam. Specifically, mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) heat pumps use electricity to compress water vapor, raising its temperature and pressure to levels required by industrial operations.
This type of heat pump has several advantages:
They are highly efficient
MVR SGHPs typically have high coefficients of performance (COPs), a measure of a system’s thermal efficiency. Compared to electric boilers, which have a COP of 0.99, this type of heat pump ranges from 2.1 to 8, meaning they need significantly less electricity to generate the same amount of steam.
They can handle large-scale operations
While other technologies are still being developed for industrial applications, MVR SGHP technology has been proven within large-scale operations, including biorefineries.
They are more environmentally friendly
MVR SGHPs use water as a refrigerant, eliminating the need for hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs) that have a high global warming potential. These chemicals are being more heavily regulated due to environmental concerns as well as toxicity and flammability.
Because mechanical vapor recompression steam-generating heat pumps use water that is already available, they don’t need to purchase or transport other refrigerants—or worry about the environmental implications.
This combination of energy efficiency, emissions reduction, and process continuity makes them the most effective solutions for delivering clean process heat across a wide range of industrial sectors.
How Skyven Technologies Is Leading the Clean Process Heat Revolution
While MVR SGHPs are emerging as a transformative technology, there can be considerable barriers to adopting them. Most have to be custom engineered to integrate with existing manufacturing equipment. They require complex controls to operate and achieve the temperature levels each facility needs to create boiler-quality steam.
They tend to take up a lot of space and it isn’t always possible to add them to existing facilities without demolishing existing equipment, leading to high costs and significant downtime.
These concerns have kept many manufacturers from implementing them.
Skyven Technologies is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible by making MVR SGHPs turnkey, cost-effective, and truly scalable.
The Skyven Arcturus steam-generating heat pump is the only commercially available system capable of delivering boiler-quality steam up to 420°F (215°C) and 300 psig (20.7 barg), using zero-emission water as a refrigerant. It’s engineered to operate outside existing process equipment, minimizing disruption and eliminating the need for facility downtime during installation.
Skyven uses our AI-powered software modeling tool called Galileo to accelerate front-end engineering, reducing time and costs by more than 90%. Skyven then uses our proprietary MVR SGHP system design software to rapidly iterate on system design based on new and updated information to expedite the design process.
Arcturus integrates with existing steam infrastructure, avoiding complex retrofits or production delays. It’s designed to cover base load steam demand while allowing legacy boilers to manage peaks—ensuring reliability, flexibility, and uninterrupted operations. Arcturus can be placed up to half a mile away from the facility, allowing for flexible siting.
Skyven’s business model removes the biggest barrier to adoption: capital cost. Through its Energy-as-a-Service model, Skyven funds the full cost of Arcturus installation, operation, and maintenance. Customers pay for the steam produced, sharing in the savings without upfront investment.
And unlike fixed-load systems, Arcturus is designed for dynamic operation. When electricity prices are low—such as during high renewable energy availability—Arcturus powers steam generation. When prices rise, it switches to existing boilers. This smart fuel-switching capability maximizes savings and protects facilities from price volatility.
Skyven customers in high-emissions industries like chemical manufacturing, ethanol production, pulp and paper, and food and beverage are seeing real results:
- Hundreds of thousands in annual cost savings
- Up to 96,000+ metric tons of CO₂ avoided per year
- Increased uptime and energy resilience
If your facility generates 10,000 pounds (5 tons) per hour of steam or more and has waste heat above 80°F (26°C), Skyven Arcturus could be the key to unlocking low-carbon, cost-effective steam—without CapEx and without disruption.
Connect with Skyven to explore how you can save money and reduce emissions by powering your operations with clean process heat.
