As we transition from 90% gas/10% electric use the UK laundry industry is looking closely at its energy demand of 2.89 TWh and using waste heat from post-washing processes to feed it. It is also hunting for Government finding to head off the effects of CapEx and innovating with new technologies. Heat pumps do have proof of concept but will they work well in industrial laundries? Zotter believes they will. At the moment, he said, nearly 50% of industrial laundry and dryers’ total input energy is being lost as waste heat.
ecop presents a world first and revolutionises heat pump technology once again. In principle, the Rotation Heat Pump already opens up completely new application possibilities for industrial heat pumps. The new model now combines it with diffusion bonding technology, making it even more efficient.
Diffusion bonding involves etching channels into stainless steel plates. These are then bonded together in a high-tech process to form a solid block. In the case of ecop, this block consists of many layers that alternately carry the gas for the heat pump process and the heat transfer medium for heat exchange. In total, there are around 300,000 channels, which were designed in a complex construction process with many simulations so that the entire heat pump process takes place within this block – not just the heat exchange.
The advantages: There are no moremoving parts; the robust block rotates as a whole and only requires connections for the working medium and for water. This design enables significantly higher pressures and rotational speeds, which results in a greater temperature range. Hardly any seals are required, which means that much higher temperatures can be run. And finally, the entire system is extremely robust, reliable and low maintenance.
It is also relatively small and has almost halved in size compared to the previous model to 6m x 2m x 1.5m. It is also perfectly scalable: If you attach several blocks, you directly increase the output. If you make the blocks smaller or larger, you can realize smaller or larger output levels.
This leads to the following concrete advantages:
- Temperature lift of over 100 K
- Output temperature of over 200° C
- Even more flexibility
- Increased efficiency
- Maximum reliability
- Still an environmentally friendly working medium, low space requirement, safe working environment
The new model will be available from 2025 and the TSA is now working with ecop to find a pilot UK laundry in which to install the technology for trialling.
