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Reducing carbon emissions through heat recovery

26 May 2021

A dairy produce manufacturer has benefitted from a new refrigeration scheme that saves money and the planet at the same time! 

Having recently invested in a new multi-million-pound processing system, a dairy manufacturer approached JD Industrial to design and install a new industrial refrigeration system to support its new facility.

Initially asked to focus on efficiencies and cost savings, JD Industrial presented the company with a solution that will reduce carbon emissions as well as costs, helping to drive the company towards becoming carbon neutral.

A phased approach was recommended, with phase one seeing the adoption of a central ammonia system with secondary Cool Flow glycol and heat recovery.

Refrigeration system efficiency is expected to increase by a minimum of 5% thanks to installation of an inline sub-cooler application. The sub-cooler is preventing bubble in the liquid refrigerant, which is produced spontaneously when the condensed liquid is subjected to boiling. This will aid smooth running of the system and help it run more efficiently to ensure refrigerant reaches the expansion valve in a quality liquid form.

The pre-feed installation has resulted in a free cooling process returning secondary fluid at 60°C to a roof-mounted high density rejector. The process recovers waste heat from the return pipes and transfers this to the water feed pipes into a boiler hot well, providing hot water for use across the plant.

The heat recovery system utilises waste heat from the new refrigeration system by compressing the ‘super-heated’ gas to a higher pressure to generate 85oC low pressure hot water (LPHW). This process removes the need for LPG or natural gas as the heat source – both of which are less efficient. 

JD Industrial has also designed and installed a 2.5km network of new pipework to serve all parts of the dairy.

The new system meets Pressure Equipment Directive PED 2014/68/EU – Fluid group II / Category assembly - and has been issued with a Declaration of Conformity (DOC) in conjunction with a CE certificate plate.

A further 5% Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) was completed on site to ensure the whole installation meets stringent compliance requirements. This brings the whole installation to 15% NDT inspection level.

Further measures – to improve system efficiency – are already being discussed with the diary as part of planned Phase Two work. These will help to further reduce ongoing costs and limit carbon emissions as part of the company’s commitment to a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly operating system.

Energy savings for the sub-cooler installation equate to £12,573 per year, while the boiler pre-feed installation is expected to save £151,504 per year. This will result in a combined total annual energy saving of £164, 077 and a 2.06-year payback on the original cost of the project.

The total CO2 reduction for this application is just as impressive and totals a 683,500 kg saving per year – a 85.0% +reduction on pre-installation levels.


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