Heat pumps provide numerous business advantages over alternative forms of heating. For example, they offer lower maintenance costs because heat pumps require less servicing than combustion-based heating systems.
Their energy-saving performance is also exceptional – they can achieve efficiencies of 400% or more. Furthermore, heat pumps are safer because they don’t rely on combustion to generate heat so there are fewer risks associated with their use.
In industrial settings, heat pumps offer flexible temperature control with reversible versions capable of supplying cooling as well as heating. Moreover, they typically have longer lifespans than traditional forms of heating – operational lives of 20 years or more are not uncommon if they are maintained properly.
But perhaps the biggest advantage of heat pumps over other forms of heating is their environmental capability. They produce far fewer carbon emissions than fossil-fuel-based systems because they are powered by electricity, which is increasingly generated by clean, renewable sources.
Heat pumps for industrial processes
Depending on the type of heat pump specified these versatile units can be used in a wide variety of industrial applications, delivering more than just ‘heating’. Other uses include:
- Comfort air conditioning
- Cold store operation
- Heating air for drying (clothes, agricultural products, and so on)
- Precooling fresh fruits, vegetables or flowers
- Direct process fluid cooling in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food processing industry
- Heating water
- Directly heating process fluids such as cleaning solutions in industrial washing machines.
Industrial heat pumps from Klima-Therm
Klima-Therm’s range of high-performance air source heat pumps deliver impressive ecological and energy system benefits, as well as all the advantages previously alluded to. We supply a host of different heat pump types including high temperature, CO2, polyvalent and modular.
- High temperature heat pumps can dramatically cut carbon emissions compared to traditional fossil-fuel based heating systems.
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) heat pumps available in air to water or water to water versions use CO2 (R744) refrigerant for the ultimate sustainability and longevity.
- Polyvalent heat pumps can deliver heating and cooling or two grades of heat simultaneously from a single energy source.
- Modular air source heat pumps provide excellent flexibility for applications where the heating demand is set to grow.
- Propane heat pumps, available in both air to water and water to water versions, use propane (R290) refrigerant to offer high efficiency, environmental benefits, and robustness.
Specialised heat pumps in our range include the Rhoss EXP/HT, an all-electric low carbon system that uses hybrid four-pipe air or water source heat pumps to produce simultaneous or independent cooling and heating (using heat recovery wherever possible for “free” heating or cooling). Typical chilled water temperatures are 6/12 deg C and hot water temperatures up to 55 deg C.
Where higher temperatures are required – as is the case in many industrial processes – high temperature heat pumps can go up to 78 deg C, efficiently boosting medium grade heat to high grade heat with the addition of a heat recovery system to increase the output.
Heat pumps can also be combined with Air Handling Units (AHUs), as demonstrated by the three-coil integral DX heat pump air handling unit – 3DxHP Series for ultra-low carbon defrost-free operation. The innovative design of the 3DxHP Series product range uses the heat pump’s own energy to prevent any need for a defrost cycle at all. The system uses less energy than a traditional system and provides the guarantee of useful heat when it is needed most.
Other benefits of 3DxHP include the built-in refrigeration system, which minimises the refrigerant content, eliminating pipe runs through the building and dramatically reducing the refrigerant content in comparison to VRF systems.
The bigger the application, the greater the potential savings. In industrial settings, choosing high efficiency and extremely versatile heat pump solutions will dramatically cut carbon, energy consumption and fuel bills – something all businesses are looking to achieve as the cost of everything continues to rise.
