Atlas Copco showcases steam compression at Boiler India 2026
The EC oil-free VSD compressor helps industries recover waste heat and reduce reliance on conventional steam generation.
www.atlascopco.com
Atlas Copco is presenting its advanced steam compression and energy recovery technologies at Boiler India 2026. The exhibition highlights how industrial facilities can recover low-pressure steam and waste heat, upgrading it into useful process energy. By applying industrial heat pump solutions and steam compression, the company aims to help customers improve energy utilization, advance sustainability goals, and reduce their dependence on conventional, fossil-fuel-fired steam boilers.
EC oil-free VSD steam compression
At the core of the showcase at Stall No. C-259 II is the EC oil-free VSD steam compressor. This technology is engineered to compress low-pressure steam to a higher, usable pressure for reuse within manufacturing processes. It combines oil-free screw compression with a Variable Speed Drive (VSD), dedicated steam sealing, and integrated microprocessor controls that precisely regulate steam pressure and superheat temperatures. The unit delivers 100 percent oil-free steam and is capable of a pressure ratio of up to 6 per stage. According to Bhavin Pandya, General Manager of the Compressor Technique Customer Center at Atlas Copco (India) Pvt. Ltd., industrial energy efficiency relies on maximizing the energy already available within a plant.
Open-loop heat pumps for process industries
When configured as an open-loop heat pump, the steam compression system achieves a high Coefficient of Performance (COP) by transforming waste heat directly into valuable high-temperature steam. This mechanical vapor recompression approach is highly relevant for process-intensive sectors—such as food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, pulp and paper, and distilleries—where continuous thermal demand coexists with recoverable heat. Operating in India for over six decades, Atlas Copco combines its global compression expertise with local engineering support to help these industries optimize utility systems and lower overall carbon footprints.
Additional Context: Mechanical Vapor Recompression and open-loop heat pumps
In traditional industrial operations, excess low-pressure steam or process waste heat is often condensed and discarded, wasting significant latent heat. Open-loop heat pumps utilizing Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) solve this by actively recompressing the low-pressure vapor back into high-pressure, high-temperature process steam. Unlike closed-loop heat pumps that transfer heat via a separate refrigerant fluid, open-loop systems use the process vapor itself as the working fluid. This eliminates the thermodynamic losses associated with secondary heat exchangers. With a Coefficient of Performance (COP) that can reach up to 10, an open-loop steam compressor can generate 1 MW of thermal energy using only 100 kW of electrical power. This process drastically reduces the energy load compared to conventional boilers, enabling massive reductions in industrial carbon emissions.
Edited by an industrial journalist, Lekshman Ramdas, with AI assistance.
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