MIT alumnus reinvents centuries-old steam boiler with new heat pump

MIT alumnus Addison Stark has developed a modular heat pump to replace traditional combustion steam boilers, aiming to decarbonize industrial steam production—a critical but historically unchanged process since the Industrial Revolution. Through his startup AtmosZero, founded in 2022 with collaborators Todd Bandhauer and Ashwin Salvi, Stark seeks to reduce the significant carbon footprint of steam generation, which currently emits about 2.2 gigatons of CO2 annually, accounting for 5% of global energy emissions. Their innovation centers on optimizing refrigerant compressors to maximize efficiency while producing steam at temperatures comparable to combustion boilers, enabling seamless integration into existing industrial operations without added complexity. AtmosZero’s heat pump uses ambient air to heat a liquid transfer material that evaporates refrigerant, which is then compressed and heated through a series of heat exchangers to boil water and generate steam. This approach allows the system to function like a conventional boiler but with significantly lower emissions. A pilot system is currently operational at a customer site in Colorado