RE-WITCH – Utilisation of renewable and waste heat in industry through technologies for cooling and energy harvesting
Heat transformation: heat pumps & refrigeration units
The integration of a turbo compressor into an absorption chiller results in a hybrid chiller that is powered by electricity and heat and can be used flexibly for both cooling and heating. The project involves developing a pilot plant of this new type of chiller, based on a commercially available absorption chiller, and testing it in practice in an industrial application in Spain.
Project description
Sorption chillers can use low-temperature heat from district heating networks or combined heat and power plants to supply chilled water for air conditioning and cooling in buildings. Instead of high-quality electricity, which powers established compression refrigeration technology, absorption refrigeration systems are driven by low-temperature heat – that is, an energy source with a low exergy content, which can be provided through combined heat and power generation with a comparatively low input of primary energy.
However, the thermodynamic sorption cycle using water (R718) as the refrigerant and an aqueous lithium bromide solution as the sorbent is subject to certain limitations regarding the three temperature levels of cold, chilled and hot water. By directly integrating a turbo compressor into the sorption cycle and optimising process control, these limitations of absorption technology can be circumvented, thereby opening up further areas of application.
Thanks to the mechanical compressor, lower-temperature drive heat can be utilised; waste heat can be discharged into the environment at a higher temperature via a dry recooler; or, if required, the capacity of the chiller can be increased to cover peak loads.
Project Management
Team members
Dept 05 – Utilities and Building Services Engineering
CENERGIE – Research Center for Energy-Efficient Buildings and Districts
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL, Italy
UNIVERSITY OF GENOA, Italy
SORPTION TECHNOLOGIES GMBH, FUNDACION TECNALIA RESEARCH & INNOVATION, Spain
Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Hochschule München, University of Applied Sciences, Germany
BS NOVA APPARATEBAU GMBH, Germany
STAM SRL, Italy
GRUPPO SIGLA SRL, Italy
PRAGMA -IOT AE, Greece
IDP INGENIERIA Y ARQUITECTURA IBERIA S.L.U., Switzerland
Browar Glubczyce S.A., Poland
COVAP. Andalusian Livestock Cooperative of the Pedroches Valley, Spain
Mil Oil Hellas Anonymous Lubricants Company, Greece
ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS, Greece
IVL SVENSKA MILJOEINSTITUTET AB (IVL), Sweden
CiaoTech S.r.l. (single-member company), Italy
INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN ENERGY AND CLIMATE POLICY STICHTING, The Netherlands
FOOD-PROCESSING INITIATIVE E. V, Germany
DR. JAKOB ENERGY RESEARCH GMBH & CO. KG, Germany
GRADYENT B.V., The Netherlands
CARTIERA DELL'ADDA SRL, Italy
LIETUVOS ENERGETIKOS INSTITUTAS, Lithuania
OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
TVP SOLAR SA, Switzerland
THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom
01/2024 – 12/2027
Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021–2027)