District Energy - 2005 Third Quarter

Industry
News

solar panels are also installed in or on the drawing boards for systems in Asia and South Europe where the sun is stronger than in Denmark and solar heating more profitable. In Vietnam – where the payback time on investment in a solar heating system is just four years – GJ Teknik has been so successful that it is building a production plant in the country.

To develop its product line, GJ Teknik partnered with nearby Marstal District Heating, the world’s largest solar heating plant, which was already making its own highly effective solar collectors. The local plant now purchases a significant amount of its panels from GJ Teknik.

The company expects solar heating systems to become even more attractive in the future as oil prices remain high and countries work to lower worldwide carbon dioxide emissions.

Spence Guide Available for
Steam and Fluid Control
Designers

Spence Engineering has published the third edition of its Steam & Fluid Control Designer’s Guide. Created for engineers, facility managers, maintenance managers and equipment buyers, the guide includes application and specification information on the company’s regulators, control valves, safety-relief valves, condensate pumps, desuperheaters, steam traps, noise-suppres-sion products, strainers, check valves and pump-protection equipment.

To request a free copy of the guide, go online to www.spenceengineering.com or call (800) 398-2493.

York Increases
Chiller Tonnage

York International Corp. has extended the capacity of its MAXE model YD centrifugal chillers to 4,750 tons of refrigeration. The upgrade increases chiller capacity by 75 percent while maintaining efficiencies.

According to the company, the model’s footprint can be as much as 50 percent smaller than chillers of comparable capacity.

The MAXE model YD chiller utilizes two York single-stage centrifugal compressors, operating in parallel on a common set of heat-exchanger shells. The chiller is engineered for maximum efficiency at both design and off-design conditions, operating on a continuous basis with cold entering condenser-water temperature and full condenser flow at all load points. The chiller provides further energy savings by running in single-compressor mode at part loads of 50 percent and lower. It features a design greater than 0.55 k W/ton and an integrated part load value as low as 0.41.

For more information, call (800) 861- 1001. A list of local York offices and phone numbers is available at www.york.com.

Swedish Energy Firm Buys
Dairy Site

Swedish energy company Borgholm Energi recently signed an agreement to buy buildings – including a district heating plant – belonging to Arla Foods’ now-defunct Borgholm Dairy. Purchased for 6. 5 million Swedish kronor ($894,000), the property is located on the island of Øland in Sweden. Borgholm Energi takes possession of the buildings Oct. 1, 2005. They include the former cheese production area, storage facilities and a combined heat and power plant that already supplies parts of the town of Borgholm with district heating. A new bio incineration plant is planned for the site.

Landfill Gas To Be Used for
Hospital Heating

Nelson Hospital in the city of Nelson, New Zealand, will soon be heated by gas from a city landfill under a new partnership of the Nelson City Council, the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board and the energy company Meridian Solutions. The

company announced that it has agreed to buy raw landfill gas from the council’s York Valley landfill. The gas is currently being flared off at the landfill.

Instead, the gas will be used to generate a significant portion of the steam needed for hospital heating and to supply an adjacent laundry. Meridian Solutions will install a landfill gas-fired boiler at the hospital under a separate agreement with the District Health Board to generate steam that would otherwise be generated by coal. As part of the project, Meridian Solutions will also build a landfill gas-compression and pretreatment plant at the landfill, as well as a 2-km (approximately 1.2-mi) pipeline to carry the gas to the hospital.

Detailed project planning was scheduled to start in June 2005. The gas plant is expected to be commissioned later this year.

“Green Beer” in Canada

Brewers in Canada are finding innovative, environmentally friendly ways to save energy. Reporting May 12, 2005, on “green” brewers from around the country, RateBeer Weekly Web site mentioned Steamwhistle Brewing in Toronto and its connection to Enwave’s deep lake water cooling system. Using a series of heat exchangers, Enwave draws cold water from Lake Ontario to cool to downtown Toronto buildings. The company also provides the brewery with steam generation.

Elsewhere across Canada, according to the article, some brewers are installing motion sensors, more windows and efficient fixtures to reduce lighting use; using wind power, solar energy and fuel cells; and cogenerating steam and electricity to meet their brewery needs.