INDUSTRIAL CHILLERS WITH AMMONIA AS REFRIGERANT: AN END-USER PERSPECTIVE

摘要

Industrial chillers for the supply of chilled water, cold glycol or brine, are frequently used over a long time,rnand become even more attractive for several applications, to replace direct refrigeration systems.rnGreenhouse gas footprint and lifecycle costs of ownership of industrial chillers can be significantly reducedrnby using ammonia as refrigerant, instead of the traditionally used HFCs. Ammonia does not contribute tornozone depletion nor global warming, and ammonia chillers are generally more energy efficient thanrnequivalent HFC chillers. Packaged chillers, using ammonia as refrigerant, are available from severalrnsuppliers. On the basis of supplier information, comparisons have been made between a typical packagedrnammonia chiller and an equivalent HFC chiller. These comparisons include: functionality: performance;rnenergy efficiency; global warming impact; economy; installation and housing requirements; safetyrnrequirements; required competence of operators and service personnel. From the comparative study can bernconcluded that the design COP of this typical ammonia chiller increases with 13 %; equipment costsrnincrease with 34 %; annual energy consumption reduces with 11.8 %; simple pay-back of extra equipmentrncosts is within 3.2 years; TEWI reduces with 13.3 %; Cumulative life cycle costs of ownership over 20 yearsrnreduce with €313,953 or 7.9 %. The study confirms that packaged ammonia chillers are an attractive andrnfeasible alternative for conventional HFC chillers, particularly in industrial applications. As the chillerrncommunity is unfamiliar with ammonia as refrigerant, more standardisation in equipment and housing,rnsimplified operation, maintenance and safety management, and lower equipment costs, may further help inrnaccelerating the wider use of the natural refrigerant ammonia in this new application area.