Use your energy twice
Energy Recovery control units are specifically designed to transfer the energy recovered from any oil-free air water-cooled compressors to the customers’ process. The control unit is installed between the compressor and the customers’ cooling- and heating circuit. It’s a true win-win solution that essentially lets you use your compressor’s energy twice. A modular design guarantees perfect integration of the Energy Recovery unit in the application.
According to the laws of thermodynamics, the energy used to compress air is transformed into heat. The major portion of this heat – more than 90% – remains in the compressed air and lubrication oil. A small part is lost to the environment through radiation.
Electrical input is not the only source of energy entering the system. The suction air for the compressor contains water vapor. The heat stored in the vapor is released through condensation in the inter- and aftercooler of the compressor. Typically, the condensation heat, contained in the suction air, is equivalent to 5-20% of the electrical input energy.
Working principle of an energy recovery unit
The water-cooled design of the cooling system of the ZR oil-free screw compressor with energy recovery allows to fully capture all this heat from the compressed air and oil system. As a result, the total energy recovered as hot water amounts up to 80-105% of the electrical input energy, depending on the actual site conditions and pressure of the compressed air system. In most industrial conditions it will be up to 95%.
This feature sets the ZR water-cooled oil-free screw compressor with energy recovery apart from any other compressor technology.
