Chillers use large amounts of energy and can typically cost 10 times as much to run over their lifetime as their capital cost. Just in the Chemicals and Food and Drink manufacturing sectors, total refrigeration is estimated to consume 5,240GWh/year (over 5% of industrial electricity use)*, equating to carbon dioxide emissions of approaching two million tonnes per year.
* UK Energy Consumption, BEIS and ONS, 2017
There are however ways to minimise the energy usage such as with free cooling or by transferring it into energy that is reused within other areas of your processes and / or buildings. Please see below the following heat recovery options that we can offer.
Heat recovery systems are perfect for supplementing your facility’s LTHW (Low Temperature Hot Water) heating system.
By utilising the heat energy from your chillers that would otherwise go to waste, you can keep your premises warm, reduce your heating bill and cut back on your company’s carbon emissions.
During operation, ambient air is drawn through the refrigerant condenser of the chiller to extract heat from the refrigeration circuit. This heat is transferred into the air stream and discharges to atmosphere. If the correct extract fans are specified on the chiller, this heated air can be utilised to increase the ambient temperature of your premises instead of being dissipated into the atmosphere. By ducting the air to somewhere where it would be more useful, you can increase the ambient temperature of those areas and save on their heating costs.
Heat recovery systems can also be used to pre-heat the water supplying your process application requirements, for example, steam generation. Anywhere hot water is required, supplying pre-heated water makes the process more cost efficient.
Heat recovery systems can also provide the energy required to pre-heat your DHW (Domestic Hot Water) system.
Please contact us and one of our specialists can discuss and advise on the most suitable heat recovery method for your cooling and heating requirements.
We can offer service & maintenance, design & installation and hire for chiller and ambient cooling systems.
Direct Cooling provides a range of chillers and cooling equipment and can advise on the right solution for you!
Whatever the industry and application, we have the industrial process cooling experience to assist you.
Complete the form below to contact the Direct Cooling team with your enquiry.