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Cooling/Heating Chiller & heat recovery


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In the next year or so, 190F water will be available on heat recovery chillers on the larger StillChill chillers I offer.

There are new refrigerants being offered specifically for this design, which for those needing hot water, this would be a new efficiency that can be designed and budgeted.  

I went to a meeting that a design was being planned for a commercial building planning for hot water heat using a chiller, and this was part of the discussion (I was there to talk to them about variable speed drive on compressors used on chillers).

You almost double the size of the chiller, but the conversion back to "free" heat makes it worth the $$$.

Mike Gronski, MG Thermal

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I don't understand why it has taken so long for this type of unit to become commercialized.

Mike, I did ask you a couple of years ago on this forum if this type of unit was available. I don't think I worded my question properly because your reply was not as I expected.

Chillers usually take the heat from warm liquid or air to cool it down then just waste that heat by dumping it into the outside air or underground.

Other "heat pumps" take the heat from the air or ground and heat water such as in a domestic hot water cylinder, or heat your home. The air or ground is cooled but not put to use.

Finally it appears as if manufacturers are building heat pumps that will do 2 useful jobs at the same time so in effect it halves your energy cost, although you do need a larger unit.

In a distillery these units could produce cold condenser water and hot mashing water at the same time, for very little extra running cost above chilling only. = (almost) free hot water.

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Really, the availability of the new refrigerants make the difference plus the compressor manufacturers have to test the refrigerants and so on until it comes available to the manufacturers and consumers.

Also, it takes time for the manufacturers to determine a line of products and sales engineers and consultants time to put an overview and strategy to market.

Fortunately for me, the manufacturer is already on the design end for a large convention center retrofit to eliminate steam heat nut needs 180F hot water to do that, which won't be done until next year.

For distilleries, the chiller is actually a heat recovery chiller targeting the exiting hot water- so you get cold water that has to be used or saved in a cold bank or else hot water is not made.

I hope that this becomes the future for distilleries as well giving owners a comprehensive plan for energy saving.

 

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Jedd,

We are a ways off before we can price out units, but right now you can count on the unit being about twice the HP as a conventional chiller- so if you were using 20 HP now, a 40 HP will be needed as a heat recovery chiller making 140 to 150F water.

The new refrigerant will change that, making much hotter water.

The system will need the hot and cold banks and other auxiliaries perhaps.

Does this help?

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