400kW helium heat pump, 250°C high temperature steam

Enerin has delivered a 400kW helium (R704) heat pump to seafood processing company for use at fishmeal processing plant.

The heat pump will be put into operation in March, and another heat pump of the same model will be installed in the factory later.

 

 

150-250°C high temperature steam

The system will use seawater and waste heat recovered from production dryers to generate 1.6MW of high temperature steam for fish oil production. Temperatures range from 6°C at start-up to 90°C when the facility is running, generating 150-250°C high temperature steam.

Once the performance of the heat pump is proven, it will replace the plant’s existing fossil fuel steam boiler. The plant hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs by improving system efficiency.

Unlike traditional high-temperature heat pumps, this heat pump uses the Stirling cycle, uses helium as the working medium, and its system is a dry gas phase closed loop system. This compression and expansion process eliminates the use of lubricating oil and phase change refrigerant, improves the reliability and efficiency of the heat pump, and reduces maintenance requirements.

 

The advantages of this heat pump include:

• Single-stage heating up to 250°C, even at a heat source temperature of −30°C.
• Energy savings of 50-70% at a temperature rise of 80-100°C.
• No loss of heating capacity in cold conditions.
• Defrosting is faster and more efficient with a separate glycol circuit and steam heating.

In terms of refrigerant choice, helium is a natural refrigerant that is non-flammable, non-toxic, has no ozone depletion and global warming potential.

“We believe that natural refrigerants, most of which are renewable and have few environmental issues, are solutions for the future and will not be banned in a few years like some synthetic refrigerants,” said Enerin’s CEO.