To modernize an Italian brewery’s 1.62MW (461TR) ammonia (R717)-based refrigeration system, Italian manufacturer Zudek installed both an ammonia compression chiller and a heat-driven absorption chiller that produces 420kW (119TR) of cooling from previously wasted cogeneration heat.
The details of the Birreria Pedavena facility update were presented by Jakob Terčon, Business Development Manager at Zudek, and Boris Sepić, Process Engineer at the brewery, in a presentation at the ATMOsphere (ATMO) Europe Summit 2025. The event, organized by ATMOSphere, was held November 24–25 in Padua, Italy. ATMOsphere is the publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com.
A natural gas–fueled combined heat and power (CHP) system at the historic Birreria Pedavena facility superheats water for processing and generates electricity for the facility. Before the update, the heat produced from cooling the cogenerator at over 90°C (194°F) was released into the atmosphere. The old refrigeration system, with an overall COP 3.6, used ammonia compressors manufactured in the 1960s by Swiss company Sulzer, supplemented by an f-gas chiller to produce −6°C (21°F) glycol.
“With the old system needing improvements, Birreria Pedavena sought to increase the overall efficiency of the facility’s heating and cooling production,” Terčon said. “The brewer also wanted to reduce the plant’s ammonia charge by using cutting–edge technology equipment.”
The new installation: The custom-designed system harnesses waste heat from the cogenerator at 92°C (198°F) to produce 420kW of cooling at a glycol temperature of −6°C via Zudek’s Enermatik absorption chiller, which rejects heat through a heat exchanger into a nearby river running at approximately 14°C (57°F).
- The Enermatik unit returns water back to the cogenerator at roughly 80°C (176°F) and supplies water at 24°C (75°C) to a Zudek Ecomatik compression chiller, which delivers 1.2MW (341TR) of cooling to the facility at a glycol temperature of −6°C.
- The Ecomatik unit supplies water at 27°C (81°F) to the brewer’s moca exchanger for fast wort cooling, with the product receiving water at 20°C (68°F) and returning it at 14°C.
- To complete the circuit, the moca exchanger supplies water at 22°C (72°F) to the heat exchanger connected to the river, where the water is finally returned at 20°C.
The benefits: “With this project, we reduced the ammonia charge by 2,000kg,” Sepić said, adding that between the two chillers, the brewery has cut its electricity consumption in half, with the CHP plant operating at 90% efficiency.
- The absorption chiller turns 700kW (199TR) of heat capacity into 420kW of cooling capacity, giving it a thermal COP of 0.6. “However, with only one small pump for the water cycle and one for the river water, the Enermatick unit, commissioned in 2022, operates with an electrical COP of 30,” Terčon said.
- The plug-and-play Ecomatik compression chiller, commissioned in 2025, operates with a COP of greater than 5, increasing the cooling efficiency by 35% compared to the old system, according to Sepić.
- “With economic support from Italy’s industry 5.0 tax credit for energy efficiency, the payback on the Zudek ammonia system is less than two years,” Sepić said.
Going global: In March the ammonia refrigeration manufacturer established Zudek International, a new subsidiary based in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
- The subsidiary, managed by Ivan Zudek, former Partner at Zudek, is selling equipment directly to contractors and end users in the U.K.
- The company plans to expand overseas, with Terčon citing Canada, the U.S. and Oceania as potential markets. He noted that the manufacturer has already sold equipment outside of Europe.
Quotable: “Instead of installing another system, it’s important to exploit all the energy sources available on a site,” Terčon said. “Ultimately, the greenest, coolest energy is the one you are not consuming.”
“With economic support from Italy’s industry 5.0 tax credit for energy efficiency, the payback on the Zudek ammonia system is less than two years.”
Boris Sepić, Process Engineer at Birreria Pedavena
