High temperature heat pumps (HTHPs) with the output temperature above 100 degrees C attract more and more attention in industrial heat recovery. It can effectively elevate the grade of thermal energy and recover waste heat to reduce the consumption of primary energy. In order to compare the performance of different HTHPs, six refrigerants were selected and simulated in an idealized refrigeration cycle including natural refrigerant (R718), HCs (R600, R601), HFOs (R1234ze(Z), R1336mzz(Z)) and HFC (R245fa). The simulation results showed that R718 has the best system performance and Carnot efficiency (COP/COPcarnoi) among all those refrigerants. Then an R718 HTHP prototype was built to verify the feasibility of R718 high temperature output in industrial processing. The experimental comparison of R718 and R1336mzz(Z)/R600/R245fa showed that no matter compared with the novel HFO refrigerant R1336mzz(Z), the flammable HC R600 or the traditional HTHP refrigerant R245fa, R718 has its unique advantages in HTHP applications. When applied in industrial heat recovery, R718 HTHP not only can satisfy the demand for high output temperature but also has better performance. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.