The primary aim of the project is to demonstrate the feasibility (from a technical, carbon reduction and financial case) of reclaiming heat from regional distribution cold store refrigeration systems (operated by Asda) and using it usefully on site and locally to provide the heat demands currently supplied from natural gas and other resources.
RESHARE: REfrigerated Store Heat Advanced REcovery
Location:
UK
Food category:
Meat, Fish, Fruits & Vegetables, Dairy
Application:
Heat reclaim
Main Chain Link:
Storage
Impact:
Removing gas and integration of waste heat has significant potential to reduce emissions from cold stores. It is estimated using data from the project partners that the emissions savings from removing gas can be between 450 and 1,350 tonnes CO2e per year for a typical regional distribution centre (RDC). Some further savings could be achieved if the heat reclaim system also reduced the refrigeration system condensing temperature at the RDCs. This could increase the carbon emissions savings by a further 2-5%.
The demonstration will identify which heat reclaim options are viable from a business case for retrofit options to current cold stores (it should be noted that most cold stores remain in operation for ~30 years and so retrofitting provides the greatest overall opportunities for heat reclaim) and future opportunities for new stores (it is estimated that ~6 large sites are built in the UK each year). Energy savings will consider the potential for future changes to grid tariffs which are likely to become more varied to be able to incorporate generation from renewable resources. The carbon emission savings will be quantified as although it is anticipated that paybacks will be the main driver for end users there is an increasing need to publish emissions from companies and to apply reduction and mitigation measures (for example gas is part of Climate Change Agreement carbon reporting in the UK). Ultimately the demonstration will provide the evidence for operators such as Asda to invest in heat reclaim and have confidence that they are
making informed valid choices that will benefit their businesses.
MAIN CONTACT:
Judith Evans (j.a.evans@lsbu.ac.uk)
