Efficiency gains of refrigeration systems by usage of heat pumps [11]

Heating and cooling are the two sides of the equation. Instead of dissipating the condensing heat of refrigeration systems to the atmosphere the usage as heat source for a heatpump is not only the environmentally right choice but also can improve the efficiency greatly, thus reducing operating cost. This efficiency gain can be achieved by reducing the condensing temperature of the refrigeration system from the standard 35 °C to 25 °C. Every 1 K results in approx. 3% gain in efficiency, hence a gain of approx. 30 % is possible. With SRH high pressure screw compressors lifts from te +20 °C up to t_c +92 °C can be achieved. These compressors are designed for high pressure up to 63 bar and are optimized for the application of heatpumps with Ammonia as refrigerant. Shown at a real installation of meat works this project is producing refrigeration and heating simultaneously. This is a great example of reducing carbon footprint as the standard practise of a boiler to generate hot water is obsolete. Especially if the energy for the traditional energy source was fossil fuel and the electricity now is generated from renewable energy sources. Using the nature-identical refrigerant Ammonia which has got no negative effect on the Ozone layer nor is contributing directly to global warming by its release it is a means to future-proof the whole installation. Last but not least, initial investment is less when the total project is considered as well as operating cost is reduced making such an application a financial success.