ENGIE Refrigeration makes waste heat usable

Air-cooled QUANTUM chillers from ENGIE Refrigeration can now be equipped with heat recovery as well. This makes it possible to reuse up to 100 per cent of the generated waste heat. The first corresponding QUANTUM models are now being deployed by an international industrial group from France.

For many years, ENGIE Refrigeration GmbH has been equipping its water-cooled QUANTUM chillers with heat recovery as an option. Many QUANTUM chillers with heat recovery are being operated successfully around the world – in Germany as well as in France, Israel and Russia. Now the refrigeration specialist from Lindau on Lake Constance is making this option available for air-cooled QUANTUM chillers as well. Customers can benefit from many advantages.

Utilising waste heat, in part or in full
A heat exchanger integrated in the air-cooled QUANTUM chiller as an addition makes it possible to conduct the heat, which is generated during the cold generation process, to a defined heat process such as heating or the warm water supply. That means an air-cooled QUANTUM with a refrigeration capacity of 1,300 kilowatts can thereby create a heat capacity of 1,480 kilowatts.

The heat generated during the refrigeration process can be used either completely, or partially in what is referred to as mixed mode. To this end, the waste heat is transferred to a heat circuit via a parallel flooded shell and tube condenser. As the chiller fans are now running at partial load or not at all, this makes it possible to save power and money. At the same time, users take advantage of the thermal energy that is generated anyway, and that would otherwise have to be generated by the heating. As a result, heat recovery is not just sustainable, but also conserves resources.

First deployment in Europe
As is the case of all air-cooled QUANTUM models, the refrigerants R-134a, R-1234ze and R-513A are also suitable for use in chillers with heat recovery. The open-flash economizer increases cooling performance while leaving the ecological footprint unchanged. QUANTUM chillers are particularly quiet in night mode because their fans are curbed.

Integrated heat recovery in an air-cooled QUANTUM is highly suitable for all industries that can utilise waste heat, such as production plants, hospitals and hotels. In July 2018, the first air-cooled QUANTUM chiller with heat recovery from ENGIE Refrigeration was put into operation in France, at an international industrial plant.