Carrier’s New High Temperature Heat Pump Harvests Energy from Rivers, Lakes and Industrial Process Water

Carrier has introduced a new high efficiency water-to-water heat pump for harnessing energy from rivers, lakes and industrial process applications that can deliver high temperature water up to 65 degrees Celsius for sanitary use or radiator heating. Carrier, a world leader in high-technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions, is a part of Carrier, a leading global provider of innovative heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies.

The Eurovent-approved Carrier AquaSnap® 61WG monobloc water-to-water heat pump is available in six sizes with heating capacities ranging from 29kW to 235kW at typical water conditions of 30/35 degrees Celsius, or 26kW to 200kW at higher temperature water conditions of 55/65 degrees Celsius. It is designed for medium to large commercial applications requiring high temperature sanitary hot water, such as hotels, hospitals, universities and leisure facilities. Alternatively, it can be used for heating with traditional radiators appropriately sized for up to 50 degrees Celsius, in line with current industry best practice guidance.

The heat pump is designed to replace or augment traditional gas boilers, or for use off-grid where buildings are currently reliant on expensive oil-fired or electric heating. Highly energy efficient, the system has a Seasonal Coefficient of Performance (SCOP) of up to 5.05 (at 55 Celsius). This means that over a typical operating season, it can deliver more than five times the electrical power it consumes in the form of heating energy as a result of harnessing and upgrading low level waste heat.

"There are many opportunities in the UK for harnessing energy contained in natural water sources or from output from industrial processes,” said David Dunn, Carrier UK managing director of sales. “However, it is technically challenging to ensure the low level heat from these sources can be upgraded sufficiently to high temperature hot water for safe use in sanitary applications. The new Carrier heat pump achieves this and opens the way for large-capacity, commercial-scale renewable projects that weren't previously possible. This is obviously good for the environment and at the same time can potentially save building owners and end users on running costs.

"In addition, because the new heat pump is based on a compact all-in-one monobloc design with a built-in hydronic module, installation is quick and easy, making life straightforward for the installer on site."

The heat pump is controlled via Carrier’s innovative Touch Pilot Junior, which has a user-friendly and intuitive colour touchscreen interface, and includes advanced communication technology, including Web connectivity and alarm notification via email as standard.

For even greater efficiency, the heat pumps can be equipped with one or two variable-speed pumps to save up to two-thirds of the pumping energy costs during part-load operation and stand-by periods.

Other options include soft start, for use on sites where electrical power is limited, a low noise version for use in sensitive applications such as healthcare and universities, and an external temperature sensor for use in weather compensation set-point control for even greater efficiency.

The AquaSnap 61WG is optimised for high temperature heating and hot water applications (above 50 degrees Celsius). For lower temperature applications, such as underfloor heating (around 35 degrees Celsius), the Carrier AquaSnap 30WG heat pump offers excellent energy efficiency and is also fully Eurovent certified.

For more details, visit the product page here.

About Carrier
Founded by the inventor of modern air conditioning, Carrier is a world leader in high-technology heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions. Carrier experts provide sustainable solutions, integrating energy-efficient products, building controls and energy services for residential, commercial, retail, transport and food service customers. Carrier’s HVAC business is a part of Carrier, a leading global provider of innovative HVAC, refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies. For more information, visit www.carrieraircon.co.uk or follow @Carrier on Twitter.

The key components of Carrier's new AquaSnap 61WG water-to-water monobloc heat pump.

Graph illustrating potential pumping energy savings possible with the optional variable speed pumps.