New chiller 'to cut energy costs by up to 60%'

11-Jun-2012 - Last updated on 15-Jun-2012 at 20:14 GMT

The Turbomiser is said to cut energy costs by more than 60%

A new energy-efficient chiller designed to cut energy costs by up to 60% is being launched for the food manufacturing industry.

The award-winning technology is the fruit of a five-year development programme by UK specialist Cool-Therm, its partners and Italian manufacturer Geoclima.

The Turbomiser uses a new type of compressor based on virtually frictionless magnetic bearings. It has been used in other industry sectors for the past couple of years. Its manufacturer is now targeting the food and drink industry in order to deliver temperature control energy savings.

When combined with high efficiency EC (electronically commutated) fans and its onboard intelligent control system, the chiller can more than halve the energy costs associated with conventional chillers, claimed the firm.

On some projects, the savings can cut pay-back time to less than a year.

The firm said it has proved the value of its technology with about 200 successful installations to date in offices, hotels and computer centres across the UK.

Cut energy consumption by 55%

Colt’s data centre in Wapping, London, cut its energy consumption by 55% after replacing its existing chillers with Turbomisers. These savings continue to accrue over the life-time of the plant, which is normally between 10 to 15 years.

Rob Young, who led the project for Cool-Therm, said: “Taking into account ambient fluctuations, this equates to an annual saving of well over £100,000 a year. This is with fan speed limited to 60% of capacity due to site noise restrictions. If the fans were allowed to run faster using the new adaptive fan speed control, savings would have been even greater.”

High-power lasers

Specialist component manufacturer Photronics halved its energy used to cool high-power lasers and clean rooms at its high-tech production facility in South Wales after installing two Turbomiser chillers.

Patrick Silman, who led the process facilities at Photronics, said: “We are monitoring energy use carefully and are on schedule to save some £170,000 within two years on power costs alone – a very impressive achievement. The machines are also incredibly quiet.”

Ken Strong, md of Cool-Therm, said: “The energy performance is staggering. These kind of savings are unheard of with conventional technology, and it gives printing companies a decisive advantage in terms of running costs. And the savings go on accumulating throughout the life of the plant. Year-on-year, it also delivers a huge reduction in carbon emissions.”

The latest generation of Turbomiser chillers is available using HFO1234ze refrigerant, which has a global warming potential 217 times less than that of conventional refrigerants, said Strong. “It is almost certainly the greenest and most efficient chiller in the world,” he claimed.