Fraunhofer IGB researchers join energy-efficient drying with superheated steam industrial drying processes; up to 80% energy savings
Energy-Efficient Electric Drying With Superheated Steam
August 3, 2026 Page 1 | 3 Research News — Decarbonization in industry Energy-Efficient Electric Drying With Superheated Steam Industrial drying processes consume large amounts of energy and nega- tively impact the climate since they burn fossil fuels to heat air. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB are working with industry partners on a new approach to decarbonize this process: Instead of hot air, they are using superheated steam. Combined with a heat pump and smart controls, their superheated steam drying pro- cess saves significant amounts of energy and eliminates the need for natural gas. Drying is a key process widely used across many sectors, including the paper, cement and chemical industries. It is a key step in the production, processing and treatment of minerals, food or detergents, for example. Countless materials, products and raw materials are dried to preserve them, allow further processing or maintain their quality. Current drying processes rely on hot air. Researchers at Fraunhofer IGB are now taking a different approach: In the LowCarbDry project, they are replacing hot air with superheated steam at atmospheric pres- sure while electrifying the drying process using a heat pump. The team is working closely with Evonik Operations GmbH and Pergande Group on this development. The aim of the project is to significantly lower energy consumption and support energy systems integration by shifting from fossil fuels such as natural gas to renewable electricity. By using electricity-generated su- perheated steam, the partners aim to reduce drying energy demand by a factor of 2 to 4, de- pending on the drying method and temperature level. Superheated steam lowers energy consumption “Industrial drying uses a significant amount of energy. During hot-air drying, the air must be heated for the moisture to evaporate. This usually involves burning natural gas, which dra- matically increases carbon emissions. But most importantly, some of the energy is lost to the atmosphere through the warm exhaust air,” says Antoine Dalibard, a research scientist at Fraunhofer IGB. “Instead of drying moist products with hot air, we use superheated, dry steam in a closed-loop system. Closing the process gas circuit minimizes heat loss to the out- side, making the process more energy efficient than traditional hot-air drying methods,” Dalibard explains. The excess steam released from product drying can then be condensed. This produces condensation heat at a temperature of about 90 to 100 °C, which can be re- used for many other processes or fed into a local heating network.
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