REFRIGERATION
Heat recovery from refrigeration (HRFR)
Nigel Upson, marketing director of DK Heat Recovery, talks about the benefi ts of heat recovery from refrigeration and air conditioning on the road to net zero for the refrigeration industry.
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This is not the case with heat recovery from refrigeration as all systems are fi tted
with pressure controls that protect the system. The refrigeration system is always in
charge of how much heat is sent to the heat recovery system.
eat recovery from refrigeration (HRFR) is the technology that captures the waste heat from a refrigeration or air conditioning system and uses
it to heat water. Heat recovery systems are not heat pumps and they do not use any power or to function. The aim of a fridge system is to move heat from where you don’t want it and expel it outdoors. This expelled heat is a wasted resource that can be used to reduce carbon emissions if collected and used as a heat source. The heat can be transferred to water through high effi ciency heat exchangers for use in potable water heating or space heating.
The heat exchange system is in eff ect a water-cooled condenser and is deployed in the hot gas line. The heated water can be used for domestic or processing use – which must comply with EN 1717 so plate heat exchangers are not acceptable – or for space heating.
What does HRFR do for net zero? By heating water using waste heat there is a consequent
reduction in the use of other energy sources that might be used for heating water such as gas, electricity, oil and therefore a reduction in carbon emissions. Based on research commissioned by DEFRA in 2016, if 15% of waste heat from food sector refrigeration were captured in this way, we would not need Sizewell C. In other words, heat recovery from refrigeration not only reduces carbon emissions but also reduces the demand for new infrastructure.
What does HRFR off er fi nancially? The payback on heat recovery from refrigeration can be
very rapid often measured in months rather than years, depending on how much hot water/heat is needed and how much duty the refrigeration / air conditioning delivers.. The way in which you fi nance the technology can help justify it too. Upfront cash is sometimes hard to fi nd in amongst the clamour for this investment or that repair. However, the short paybacks or the ready availability of ‘green fi nance’ helps. There are companies which have decided to seed their net zero campaign with cash for heat recovery and used the savings to fi nance the rest of their programme.
16 December 2023 •
www.acr-news.com
What are the barriers to the uptake of HRFR? The most common barrier is the refrigeration engineer who doesn’t fully understand the technology and fears that the refrigerant will over condense and cause the system to operate incorrectly. This is not the case with heat recovery from refrigeration as all systems are fi tted with pressure controls that protect the system. The refrigeration system is always in charge of how much heat is sent to the heat recovery system. Second is the ever-increasing rate at which freon gasses
are being phased out. With the looming expectation that they will be replacing their fridge plant soon, many organisations put off considering heat recovery. The paybacks can be so short that the system will pay for itself long before the plant gets renewed. If your switch is imminent, consider heat recovery from refrigeration as an integral part of the project as the best and most cost-eff ective time to add a heat recovery system is when installing new fridge. The third barrier is government policy. All we hear about is energy generation, not energy reduction. The value of energy consumption reduction has not yet really been taken on board at Westminster. There is plenty of cash for generation and carbon capture, but wouldn’t it be better for the environment to fund not using energy in the fi rst place? Interesting to note that the Minister of State for Net Zero, Graham Stuart, called heat recovery from refrigeration a ‘no brainer’ when visiting a food manufacturing business in his constituency that had a newly installed unit in 2017. By viewing heat recovery from refrigeration as a business stream, forward-looking refrigeration contractors will be joining the net zero economy with consequent CSR / ESG benefi ts to their organisation. In addition, and more importantly, they will off er a new service to their existing clients that will save them money and help their net zero plans, without adding infrastructure. Moreover, by recognising and marketing heat recovery from refrigeration as a mainstream, all year round off ering, new clients will be attracted off ering business growth opportunities.
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