Heat pumps

Heat pumps were the product within the refrigeration world that generated the most interest during 2023.

But let’s start from the beginning, what is a heat pump?

Heat pumps are systems capable of exploiting the thermal energy of natural sources present in the external environment (such as water, air, earth, waste heat, etc.) to produce heated air or water.

HOW IT WORKS

The heat pump, like any type of chiller, follows the principle of thermodynamics. The heat pump will do nothing but remove heat from the external environment (unlike the refrigerator), and then pour it into the building to be heated. The operating principle of the refrigeration machine and the heat pump is the same heat pumps can function both as a heating source and, if necessary, as a refrigerator.

Their function, in simple terms, is to transport thermal energy for heating or cooling an environment.

To work, heat pumps always depend on four basic elements:

Compressor: this is where the thermodynamic cycle starts. The compressor has the task of generating a pressure difference by sucking in the refrigerant gas coming from the evaporator on the low-pressure side.

Condenser: the evaporated and compressed fluid, at high pressure and temperature, condenses in the condenser to release the heat accumulated in the previous phase;

Reduction valve: the fluid passes through this area of the heat pump where the pressure is reduced to return the fluid to its liquid/vapour state. The refrigerant fluid will then return completely to the vapor state after passing through the evaporator.

Evaporator: in this phase the liquid/vapour fluid will be completely transformed into vapor inside the evaporator and will thus be able to be sucked in again by the compressor and start the refrigeration cycle again.

THE AMMONIA HEAT PUMP

As you know, at Zudek, we only use natural refrigerants for our products and we have done the same with our heat pump: Recumatik. Specifically, Recumatik is a mechanical vapor compression heat pump that uses ammonia as a refrigerant fluid.

Recumatik is composed of a compressor, an expansion valve, and two heat exchangers, namely the evaporator and the condenser.

The various components are connected thanks to a closed circuit, within which ammonia flows.

The path that the refrigerant takes inside the circuit is as follows:

1. Inside a COMPRESSOR the fluid, in the form of steam, is sucked in and compressed up to a higher pressure and temperature;
2. The fluid passes inside the heat exchanger constituting the CONDENSER where it cools, releases useful heat to the technical water of the system, and condenses;
3. The refrigerant liquid exiting the condenser is expanded by a LAMINATION VALVE which lowers its pressure, thus ending the cycle.
4. In the EVAPORATOR the temperature of the operating fluid is kept lower than that of the heat source so that the temperature difference can create the heat exchange necessary for the refrigerant liquid to evaporate;

THE ADVANTAGES

In general, using a heat pump compared to a classic gas boiler leads to large energy savings compared to traditional heating systems.

Below we list some of the advantages of heat pumps compared to classic systems:

• High cost-effectiveness resulting from the reduction of space heating costs, which can reach up to 40%
• Lower energy costs, in fact heat pumps produce heat much more efficiently than classic boilers
• Energy savings for winter heating compared to fossil fuel boilers
• Possibility of using a single system for winter and summer air conditioning and domestic hot water production.
• Better efficiency than traditional fossil fuel systems

Specifically, the use of ammonia as a refrigerant fluid allows for further improvements compared to heat pumps that use classic synthetic refrigerants.

Recumatik, the Zudek ammonia heat pump, guarantees:

Greater energy saving: Thanks to the use of ammonia, Recumatik is much more efficient than heat pumps that use HFC or HFO. Ammonia is the most efficient refrigerant fluid on the market, which leads to great energy savings with a consequent reduction in operating costs.

Ecology: Currently, ammonia is the most environmentally friendly refrigerant fluid available on the market. In fact, among refrigerant fluids it is the only one to have GWP (Global Warming Potential) and ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential) equal to zero. This allows us to reduce the CO₂ emissions generated by the machine as much as possible.

Combined operation depending on the customer’s priorities and resulting energy savings: The Recumatik heat pump can work both as a boiler and a chiller. Depending on the external temperature conditions and as needed, our Telematik control system can regulate the amount of heat and cold produced by the machine.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, industrial heat pumps represent a revolution in the refrigeration sector and will certainly continue to generate interest and attention also in 2024. By exploiting thermal energy from external natural sources, such as air, water or earth, these pumps can produce heated air or water, offering numerous advantages compared to traditional systems.

Furthermore, ammonia technology, as in the case of Zudek’s Recumatik, demonstrates further improvements, ensuring significant energy savings and a reduced ecological impact.

The versatility of Recumatik, capable of acting both as a boiler and a chiller, offers a complete solution for winter and summer air conditioning, as well as the production of domestic hot water with considerable attention to environmental sustainability and energy saving.

In a context in which sustainability, energy efficiency and decarbonisation are increasingly crucial, industrial heat pumps, and in particular ammonia ones like Recumatik, are cutting-edge solutions for the responsible and efficient management of energy resources.

If you also want to find out how to tackle the decarbonisation journey or improve the efficiency of your air conditioning system, contact us at sales@zudek.com or at the CONTACTS link and together we will identify the solution that’s right for you!