Monday 18 March 2013

Benefits 'in store' for heat recovery chillers

Heat recovery systems such as Conveni-pack by Daikin take heat from refrigeration cabinets to provide indoor air conditioning for comfort heating. Use of this waste heat stabilizes ambient temperatures at no extra cost.
Image courtesy of Daikin



Discussing chilled technology during a cold snap in Northern Europe makes sense when it involves utilising heat recovered from the chilling process to warm the ambient areas of a convenience store.
By offsetting a proportion of the demand of conventional heat sources, heat recovery systems allow businesses to make substantial cost savings whilst contributing at the same time to carbon footprint reduction. Lower running costs stemming from reduced energy consumption therefore amounts to a significant win-win for both the environment and c-store retailer.

Minale's design team, being involved in refreshing c-store environments for fuel retailers worldwide, enjoys close relationships with suppliers of environmentally-proven technologies, and frequently has to assess the merits of new innovations.

It will no doubt be of interest to some of our international readers to hear about the latest generation of heat recovery systems. Daikin, for example, is successfully marketing its heat recovery systems to major convenience food retailers including the Co-op.

Its integrated solution Conveni-Pack benefits all kinds of convenience store and location, from smallholder rural sites which may be subject to strict noise pollution legislation to larger city stores that cater for the needs of fresh and frozen food shoppers.

Capitalising on heat generated from chiller cabinets, integrated heating, cooling and refrigeration solutions are capable of cutting energy costs by up to 50% according to Daikin.

Another company leading the field is S&P Coils Limited. SPC designs and manufactures a range of evaporating and condensing coils to suit retailer's common refrigerants.

Coil Heat Exchangers designed by S&P Coils
Image courtesy of S&P Coils Limited. SPC's heat reclaim coils provide a high rate of energy saving; up to 88kw of heat which was previously vented into the atmosphere can now be used for store heating. 
SPC's heat reclaim coils have recently been used to recycle heat rejected from chiller cabinets in 14 ALDI stores throughout the UK. The recycled heat allows store temperature to be kept at comfortable level for its customers whilst reducing the firm's energy bill.

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