CASE STUDIES
Heat pumps deliver eight megawatts of renewable heating to improve farm yields
A
Leicestershire farming company has installed a combined eight megawatts (MW) of high-efficiency Carrier
AquaForce ground-source heat pumps in two projects to increase the quality of hay production and enhance returns. Welland Farm was inspired by a previous project carried out by OMNI Heat and Power in which the renewable energy specialist selected Carrier ground-source heat pumps to provide a controlled environment for drying premium quality hay for racehorses. With its higher efficiency, the Carrier solution uses less power and costs less to run than other options, with a Coefficient of Performance (CoP) of 5.24. Alternative options considered required the use of heat pumps based on up to
80 compressors to achieve the desired output to dry the hay.
"Due to their higher capacity, the Carrier
solution required just three heat pumps based on a total of six compressors," said Bradley Martin, director of OMNI heat and power. "This simplifies maintenance and significantly reduces servicing costs for the end user over the lifetime of the equipment." The systems use an array of pipes buried in
trenches for gathering energy from the ground, each with a total pipe length of some 24 kilometres. Once the heat pumps have upgraded the energy collected, it is transferred to air handling units serving the crop drying rooms. "The quicker and more effectively hay can be dried, the greater the yield, and the greater
Download the ACR News app today
the return for the producer,” said Mr Martin. “Traditional methods following harvesting involve leaving bales in the fields to dry naturally, which can result in significant losses due to spoilage in wet conditions. Bringing the crop inside and drying it in a controlled environment results in higher quality and minimises losses."
AquaForce heat pumps are Carrier’s premium solution for commercial and industrial applications where end-users require maximum quality and optimal performance, especially at part load.
They deliver outstanding energy efficiency, excellent reliability, low sound levels and, for contractors, rapid installation and commissioning on-site.
www.acr-news.com • December 2021 37
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48