Brewing company Heineken cut its pasteurization tunnel energy costs by 50% over a gas boiler at its Puglia, Italy, facility after installing a propane (R290) heat pump produced by Italian manufacturer Euroklimat, according to Céline Lach, President of the CTA Group.
Euroklimat, a subsidiary of the French refrigeration manufacturer CTA Group, produced its first R290 chiller roughly 20 years ago and started investing in hydrocarbon heat pumps in the last six years. According to CEO Michele Bedin, Euroklimat has installed over 3,000 propane chillers and heat pumps in Europe since 2006.
Lach shared details about the Heineken project, which was completed in 2023, along with Euroklimat’s push to increase hot water outlet temperatures with hydrocarbon heat pumps during a presentation at the ATMOsphere (ATMO) Europe Summit 2024. The event was organized by ATMOsphere, publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com, and held November 25–26 in Prague, Czech Republic.
Retrofit details/ROI
Before the installation, Heineken spent €181,000 ($187,200) annually between the gas boiler (€170,000/$175,800) and city water (€11,000/$11,400) to meet the simultaneous heating and cooling demand of the facility’s pasteurization tunnel, requiring a heat capacity of 185kW (52.6TR).
“In a single solution, the plug-and-play water-to-water propane heat pump provides hot water at 70°C [158°F] and cold at 26°C [78.8°F],” Lach said, using an inverter-driven design powered with reciprocating compressors. With a COP of 3.77, the unit provides a heating capacity of 185kW and cooling of 135.8kW (38.6TR).
Lach estimated that 55% of the electricity used by the heat pump comes from the solar array on the roof, reducing the pasteurization tunnel’s annual energy cost to €46,500 ($48,100). “The operational data shows that this plug-and-play propane solution, requiring no technical training, cuts energy costs by 75% [the cost of natural gas vs. electricity] to provide a one-year return on investment,” she said. “Without the solar array, energy costs are reduced by 50% annually.”
Pushing boundaries
According to Lach, hydrocarbon heat pumps provide a stable solution for industrial processes. Equipment on the market offers outlet temperatures ranging from −25 to 110°C (−13 to 230°F). The recently launched Euroklimat isobutane (R600a) heat pump generates 110°C hot water from a 40°C (104°F) inlet water temperature, with capacities available from 20 to 200kW (5.7 to 56.9TR).
“For our customers, 110°C fits 90% of their processing needs, but they have to rely on a steam boiler in a secondary loop to obtain higher temperatures,” Lach said. The thermodynamic properties of isobutane allow higher temperatures, but hardware, like safety valves, currently limits the technology. “Obtaining higher temperatures requires everyone to invest in this direction,” Lach noted.
Euroklimat is no stranger to pushing the development of hydrocarbon refrigeration products. Lach reported that Euroklimat used spare R22 parts in its initial propane chiller. After two years of work, the company installed its first R290 unit in 2006 for a Swiss customer. Today, 72% of the company’s production uses a hydrocarbon refrigerant, with a target of 100% by the end of 2030.
Besides investing in the output of isobutane units, Lach said that Euroklimat is also researching the capabilities of other hydrocarbons like butane (R600) and isopentane (R601a) to generate higher temperatures.
Another research project mentioned in the presentation involves developing a hydrocarbon chiller solution for a cruise or military ship application. “It’s complicated, but we are working on it,” Lach remarked.
“Obtaining higher temperatures requires everyone to invest in this direction.”
Céline Lach, President of the CTA Group
