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Frozen Foods International News
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| Dutch GEA Unit Wins Award for Saving Energy |
For its combination of a refrigerating plant and a heat pump, GEA
Refrigeration Netherlands N.V., s-Hertogenbosch -- a member
company of GEA Refrigeration Technologies, Bochum, Germany -- has
won the Dutch Refrigeration Prize.
The Dutch Association of Companies in the Field of Refrigeration
Technology and Air Treatment (NVKL) has since 1989 awarded this
prize in the form of the "Koeltrofee" pyramid to recognize
innovations in the area of refrigeration and HVAC. The Energy
Enhancer -- the name given by GEA to this refrigeration-heat
solution -- convinced the prize jurors of its energy-savings
potential.
This solution uses an ammonia heat pump to raise the temperature
of the heat exhausted from refrigeration compressors (originally
emitted at approx. 35° C) to a level of around 80° C, which can
be effectively used. This enables efficient use of the heat in
pasteurization of milk, blanching of French fries and machine
cleaning of meat. There's even a leisure center in which an
ice-skating rink must be cooled and a swimming pool heated.
The Energy Enhancer raises exhausted heat -- otherwise often
dissipated into the environment without being used in
conventional refrigeration units -- to a higher temperature, where
it becomes useful energy. This eliminates the need to produce
heat by gas-fired hot-water heaters or steam generators, and
results in tremendous energy savings: A gas boiler requires
approx. 120 kW in the form of gas input to produce 100 kW of
useful heat, whereas the Energy Enhancer requires only 20 kW of
electrical power to deliver the same thermal output.
This not only reduces operating costs, but makes for a drastic
reduction in CO2 emissions. The principle of the Energy Enhancer
can be applied both for new facilities as well as existing plants
-- and possesses great market relevance, as emphasized by the
jury in its award statement. In addition, the jurors expressed
praise that the Energy Enhancer, which uses the natural
refrigerant ammonia, does not represent an ozone-depletion hazard.
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| 29-Feb-12 |
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