Over 100 Industrial heat pumps installed in Austria

This was the latest figure released by the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) during the Chillventa Congress.

Hallstatt, Austria.

At the Chillventa Congress (15 October 2018), Dr. Veronika Wilk of the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) told the audience at the pre-Chillventa conference series that there are estimated to be over 100 industrial heat pumps installed in Austria.

Wilk said installations were set to increase as Austria steps up its efforts to cut emissions and increase energy efficiency. “If we go along the path we’re on now, 500 district heat pumps [will be installed] by 2030” and in the best-case scenario, 2,500 will be installed, she said.

One good example of applying natural refrigerants in industrial heat pump applications, she said, is this year’s installation by F. Krainer (an Austrian meat and sausage producer) of a CO2 heat pump at a factory in Wagna. The CO2-based system has a cooling capacity of approximately 600 kW and a heating capacity of 800 kW. 

It was installed by Austrian-based AMT Käletechnik GmbH and contains six Bock reciprocating compressors. The controller is a Siemens S7 PLC model.

Wilk also cited an ammonia chiller installation by an Austrian brewery that was carried out by Frigopol, which also provides excess heat for other purposes.

To expand industrial heat pumps further, she called for the payback period on Industrial heat pump systems to decrease.

She also advocated for high-temperature heat pumps as these have the best coefficient of performance for industrial applications, along with other advantages. “We [will use] an ejector instead of an expansion valve for high-temperature applications,” she said as part of a technology project on butane-based heat pumps that AIT is developing with Frigpol and Norwegian research group SINTEF.

By Charlotte McLaughlin

Oct 15, 2018, 23:24




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