Single Screw Ammonia Heat Pumps

Harness Your Heat... Dont Reject It

Harness Your HeatDon't Reject It

Industrial processes consume considerable energy from two primary sources in the production of their
products. Mechanical refrigeration applied in the processing and preservation of products consumes
electrical energy, while the hot water supplied for clean-up, cooking and process heating employs mostly
fossil fuels.
The considerable energy absorbed by ammonia in industrial refrigeration is usually discarded to the
atmosphere as wasted heat. The entering flow of gas or oil used to produce hot water bypasses the
significant energy potential of the exhausted heat of rejection from refrigeration.
With a growing interest in conserving energy and renewing their refrigeration system's wasted heat of
rejection, industrial processors are tapping into recent screw compressor developments in making the
most of their energy resources. End-users are realising the powerful potential of applying industrial heat
pumps to their processes and converting their waste heat into useable heat, afforded through the use
of the high pressure capabilities of single screw compressor technology.
Vilter has extended the Single Screw compressor line with the addition of high pressure
heat pump screw compressor models. These screw compressor units, with frames
constructed of cast steel, are capable of operating with ammonia at
extremely high condensing temperatures. Integrated into existing
ammonia refrigeration systems, the heat pump compressors
provide a cost effective solution to harnessing and converting
your heat of rejection to high grade hot water, up to 90C.
The Vilter high pressure heat pump compressors
retain the single screw's inherent design advantages
of balanced forces for long life and high reliability,
and parallel slides for peak performance at full or
part load performance and reliability superior to
any twin screw compressor.

Heat pumps extract heat from a variety of sources and convert the

for industrial applications, providing higher capacities and a greater

heat to higher temperatures for use in many industrial applications.

range of temperatures than prior generations of heat pump

The advanced compression capabilities of Vilter's single screw

compressors.

technology have contributed to the development of heat pumps

Heat Sources

Heat Pump (refrigeration cycle)

Applications

Pasteurisation

Air
expansion

Ground
Water

Sanitation

Process Heating

Bottle
warming

Food
production

Process Cooling

Commercial
HVAC

Process
drying

District
heating

Pharmaceutical

Desalination

evaporation

condensation
Air curtains

Oil Cooling

Humidity
control reheat

Desuperheating
Condensing

Underfloor
heating
Scalding

Refineries

compression

Petrochemical

Boiler preheat

Single Screw Balanced Loading: Superior Technology for High Pressure Operation
The advantage of the Single Screw compressor over other

forces are canceled out. The only vertical loads exerted on the

technologies is the fact that there are no net radial or axial forces

main screw bearings are due to gravity. Since the discharge end

exerted on the main screw or drive shaft components due to the

of the screw is vented to suction, the suction gas pressure is exerted

work of compression. Since compression occurs symmetrically and

on both ends of the screw resulting in balanced axial loads.

simultaneously on opposite sides of the screw, the compression

Radially and Axially

Balanced Main Screw

Pressurized Seal Chamber

for Increased Reliability

Star Gaterotor
Electronic Optical
Slide Actuator

Balanced Radial Loads

Balanced Axial Loads

Variable Volume Slide 1.2 to 7.0 Ratio

Variable Capacity Slide 10% to 100%

Conventional Heat Recovery vs. Ammonia Heat Pump System

Single screw compressor technology allows for sustained operation

systems, providing for the full use of the system's heat of rejection

at higher saturated condensing temperatures than conventional

for high temperature heating.

R717

Self-Contained Ammonia Refrigeration Heat Pump

200

Desuperheating

Available Waste Heat

Oil Cooling

100
40

Pressure (barA)

20
10

Oil Cooling and

Desuperheating

Conventional

Condensing

4.0
2.0

Conventional Heat Recovery

from Ammonia Refrigeration

1.0
.40

Available Heat

.20
.10
-200

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Enthalpy (Kj/Kg)

Conventional heat recovery in industrial refrigeration systems utilise

condenser. However the temperature of this heat source is typically

only 10 to 15% of the total heat of rejection including superheat

too low for beneficial use

and oil cooling. The majority of the heat is rejected through the

Ammonia Pressure-Temperature Relationship

80

Design Limit for Vilter Cast Steel

Compressors (76 bar, 110C)

70

Cast steel frame

Pressure (barA)

60

Compressor Duty Required for Industrial Heat

Pumps (28 bar, 63C to 52 bar, 90C)

50

Ductile iron frame

40

30

20

10

Design Limit for Most Compressors (26 bar, 60C)

Cast iron frame

Normal Operating range of

Refrigeration Compressors
(0.4 bar, -50C to 15 bar, 38C)

-60

-40

-20

20

40

Temperature (C)

60

80

100

120

Practical Application

The use of heat pumps to extract heat from

air and water is increasingly popular, largely
because the heat they deliver far exceeds
the energy they consume.
Vilter engineers,
collaborating with
Star Refrigeration** and
Norsk-Kulde, made use of
Vilter single screw compressors
to produce the pressures and
temperatures required for the system.
The city of Drammen, Norway is embarking
on a novel energy saving plan using an
ammonia-based stand-alone heat pump
system. When the project comes on line,
all of Drammens hot water heating needs
with be supplied with energy extracted
from the frigid North Sea, greatly reducing
the use and emissions of fossil fuels.

The city of Drammen (population 60,000)

needed hot water at 90C for their new
district heating system. Using ammonia
refrigerant (R-717) the project is highly
efficient, greatly reduces the use of fossil
fuels, and has no negative impact on the
ozone layer or global warming.

Single Stage Scavenging Heat Pump System

A scavenging heat pump system is designed to pull heat out of an

water heating in order to make use of the refrigeration systems

existing refrigeration system by diverting ammonia discharge gas

waste heat. In heating water to moderate temperatures, up to

away from refrigeration system condensers to the suction inlet of

71C, single stage single screw heat pump systems provide optimal

the heat pump system. Vilter single screw compressors are

performance (COPs) due to the dutys relatively low differential

designed to handle the high suction pressures required of this

pressures, up to 24,2 bar.

duty, and deliver the very high discharge temperature vapors for

Ammonia heat pump scavenging system

R717 Ammonia
200

Subcooling

Oil Cooling &

Desuperheating

100

Condensing

40

Pressure (barA)

20
10

Host Oil Cooling &

Desuperheating

4.0
2.0
1.0
.40
.20

Single Stage Ammonia Scavenging

Heat Pump Package

.10
-200

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Enthalpy (Kj/Kg)

Existing Refrigeration System

Single Stage Heat Pump Scavenging System

Two-Stage Scavenging Heat Pump System

Two-stage scavenging heat pump systems are utilized where the

water temperatures, up to 90C. Vilter single screw compressors

desired water temperatures are higher than those provided by

employed to satisfy the high pressures and temperatures of two-

single stage systems. Higher differential water temperatures

stage ammonia heat pumps operate reliably and efficiently at such

correlate to higher differential pressures in heat pump compressors.

intensive duties due to their naturally balanced axial and radial

By splitting the heat pump design from a single stage to a two-

design.

stage system, superior COPs are realized in achieving very high

Ammonia heat pump scavenging system

R717 Ammonia
200

Subcooling

2nd Stage Oil

Cooling &
Desuperheating
1st Stage Oil
Cooling &
Desuperheating

Condensing

100
40

Pressure (barA)

20
10

Host Oil Cooling &

Desuperheating

4.0
2.0
1.0
.40
.20

Two-Stage Ammonia Scavenging

Heat Pump Package

.10
-200

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Enthalpy (Kj/Kg)

Existing Refrigeration System

Two-Stage Heat Pump Scavenging System

Technical Overview
Single stage ammonia heat pumps
Suction
Pressure

SST

Discharge
Pressure

SDT

Nominal
Water Flow

Heat
Recoverd

Barg

Barg

m3/hr

kW

Total
Absorbed
Power
kW

VSS-291

12.1

34.5

32.5

71

16.4

1429

228

6.28

VSS-341

12.1

34.5

32.2

70.5

19.1

1658

264

6.28

VSS-451

12.1

34.5

31.9

70

28.6

2503

386

6.49

VSS-601

12.1

34.5

31.9

70

33.9

2946

447

6.59

Model

COP

* Based upon compressors operating at 3550 RPM (60Hz)

Two-stage ammonia heat pumps

Model

Suction
Pressure

SST

Discharge
Pressure

SDT

Power

Nominal
Water Flow

Heat
Recoverd

Barg

Barg

kW

m3/hr

kW

Total
Absorbed
Power
kW

COP

Low
High

VSS-451
VSS-291

12.1
24.9

34.5
60

25.2
49.0

60.5
89.5

286
317

29.5

2571

603

4.27

Low
High

VSS-601
VSS-341

12.1
24.9

34.5
60

25.2
49.0

60.5
89.5

332
371

35.9

3130

703

4.45

Low
High

VSS-901
VSS-451

12.1
24.9

34.5
60

25.2
49.0

60.5
89.5

571
573

53.2

4636

1144

4.06

Low
High

VSS-1051
VSS-601

12.1
24.8

34.5
60

25.2
49.0

60.5
89.5

618
647

61,6

5375

1264

4.25

* Based upon compressors operating at 3550 RPM (60Hz)

OTH002-EN-1009

** Emerson Climate Technologies has a working agreement with Star Refrigeration

on providing the European Market with industrial heat pump packages.

Emerson Climate Technologies - European Headquarters - Pascalstrasse 65 - 52076 Aachen, Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 2408 929 0 - Fax: +49 (0) 2408 929 570 - Internet: www.emersonclimate.eu or www.vilter.com
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