Maximum efficiency thanks to thermeco2 heat pumps: Heating with greater sustainability
Efficient, energy-saving and eco-friendly: thermeco2 high-temperature heat pumps from ENGIE Refrigeration are the number one choice for users when it comes to sustainable heating. The models feature combined heating and cooling, which guarantees maximum efficiency and excellent COP values. This is how thermeco2 high-temperature heat pumps are assisting industrial businesses and city districts in particular on their path to carbon neutrality.
What is so special about thermeco2 high-temperature heat pumps? As the name thermeco2 indicates, the only refrigerant used by the pumps is CO2, which has the technical name R-744. This offers numerous benefits in terms of economy, safety and eco-friendliness. CO2 is considered future-proof, as no legal restrictions or prohibitions in respect of its use are anticipated. It is also non-toxic, non-flammable and non-caustic, and is very safe compared to other refrigerants (safety group A1 as per DIN EN 378). Above all, however, CO2 is a natural substance. This means it contributes neither to the destruction of the ozone layer (ODP=0) nor to the greenhouse effect (GWP=1) and is thus an eco-friendly alternative to traditional refrigerants. Taken as a whole, CO2 as a refrigerant does not make an environmentally harmful contribution to the total carbon balance: the heating process only uses CO2 that already exists. As a result, thermeco2 high-temperature heat pumps can considerably reduce carbon emissions, especially when compared to heating that runs only on the basis of fossil fuels.
thermeco2: effective combined cooling and heating
The fundamental principle of heat pumps is to absorb heat at low temperature levels and dispense it as useful heat at a higher temperature. In the process, they draw on heat sources that usually cannot be utilised directly, such as geothermal energy, surface water or seasonal heat stores. However, heat pumps only achieve their full potential for sustainability when they utilise waste heat from industrial production, waste air from air-conditioning systems or waste heat from chillers; these applications are therefore often supported with subsidies and tax incentive schemes. If the corresponding process is optimally designed, users are certain to achieve significant energy and carbon reductions. In this context, a key benefit of thermeco2 high-temperature heat pumps from ENGIE Refrigeration is that these machines can be used to generate both hot and cold water. Overall, it is possible to achieve temperatures ranging from -30 °C for deep freezing to +110 °C for process water. This combined heating and cooling by the heat pumps guarantees maximum output values and maximum efficiency, which in turn ensures an excellent COP (coefficient of performance) value – a real added value for the operating company.
The go-to heat pump
With these special properties, thermeco2 high-temperature heat pumps are suitable for many areas of application – especially where there is high demand for heat and cold. They include:
- Building technology – for example large, energy-intensive buildings such as data centres, hospitals or hotel complexes.
- Central building services engineering – such as district heat networks run by public utilities and local authorities, or industrial heat and refrigeration supply technology.
- Applications involving refrigeration – from cold brine systems for the food, pharmaceutical and chemical industry to ice rinks and commercial refrigeration.
- Process technology – for example in the condensation dehumidification performed by the process air technology for painting and coating systems; to generate hot water for washing and cleaning processes in the food industry; and to create hot air for drying processes involving sludge or biomass.
CO2 heat pumps as an eco-friendly key technology
In short: thermeco2 high-temperature heat pumps for heating and cooling are suitable for an extremely wide range of applications – and can thus potentially make huge contributions towards decarbonisation. If the electricity powering the heat pump comes from renewable energy sources, even an energy supply with zero carbon emissions is possible. This makes thermeco2 high-temperature heat pumps an eco-friendly key technology for heating and cooling – which fits with the ambition at ENGIE Refrigeration: to be a trailblazer for carbon-neutral technologies.
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