Turbo heat pumps and absorption chillers using exhaust heat
Turbo heat pumps and absorption chillers with exhaust heat recovery that reuse heat without waste
Reuse of "heat" is attracting renewed attention around the world
Reuse is one essential initiative in promoting SDGs. It is now more desirable that society not discard our limited resources, but reuse and share them. Recycled paper, plastics, and even solutions for food wastage. This does not only apply to things that are tangible. Do you know that heat can be reused?
In our day-to-day lives, we generate a variety of heat energy. In addition to air conditioning systems such as air heating and cooling equipment in buildings, food factories cook at high temperatures (heat), while they use refrigerators and freezers (cold) to preserve food. Oil and chemical plants also generate different temperatures at boilers and distillation towers to process products. The excess heat generated is discharged from factories as drainage water (hot drainage water) or, in some cases, from stacks into the air as steam or exhaust gas at temperatures exceeding 300°C. The "reuse of heat" to divert such discharged heat (waste heat) to other uses is now attracting renewed attention around the world, and EBARA's products are contributing to this trend.
Two EBARA products that "reuse heat
So, what methods and equipment are used to reuse heat? EBARA, a pioneer in pumps, also has technology for pumps that pump heat. There are two main types of products.
The "centrifugal chiller," which EBARA developed in 1930 as the first of its kind in Japan, and the "turbo heat pump," which is based on this technology, are devices that recover and transfer heat using electric power without using fuel, utilizing the property of temperature rise and fall by changing the pressure of liquid or gas inside. This technology is also used in air conditioners and water heaters, etc. By using waste heat in a turbo heat pump, it is possible to create a large volume of hot water with little electricity by pumping thermal energy from discarded heat.
Another device, an absorption chiller with exhaust heat recovery, produces cold water by evaporation and absorption of water. The key here is that cold energy can be obtained by using waste heat as a driving source. Conventionally, fossil fuels have been used to operate absorption chillers, but recently, there has been a growing need for absorption chillers with exhaust heat recovery that can be driven by exhaust heat alone, except for some equipment units such as control panels and auxiliary pumps.
Supporting the future of industry through the effective use of heat
Both turbo heat pumps and absorption chillers with exhaust heat recovery have a long history among our products, and their technologies have been cultivated through Japan's ongoing energy-saving initiatives. In line with SDGs, there has been a growing interest in reducing CO2 and the effective use of heat in recent years and this has provided an opportunity for us to make a significant contribution. We will continue to update our product lineup to meet the needs of the times, such as subdividing our lineup according to temperature and heat source, and support the future of new industries that make full use of the energy in their factories.
