For several years, ROBUR has collaborated with international research centres to test solutions for heating and air conditioning with high efficiency and low environmental impact.
The most recent cooperation between the Italian company and a university research centre was dedicated to the certification of the efficiency values of one of the key chillers of ROBUR offering, the GA ACF HR model.
The GA ACF HR Gas Absorption unit with heat recovery is a chiller with 18 kW of cooling capacity with unique features, as it is able to cool down and simultaneously supply free domestic hot water, thanks to the heat recovery system it is equipped with.
This peculiarity makes the unit particularly versatile and ideal for installation in hotels, offices and shopping centres, wellness and sports centres and in all those installations where a large quantity of domestic hot water is required even during the summer season.
The chiller can also be installed in post-heating circuits, connected to air treatment units.
Finally, thanks to the possibility of producing hot water up to 75 ° C, GA ACF HR is effectively used in several production processes.
Consistent with this line, the tests were carried out with the objective of verifying the overall efficiency of the unit, during simultaneous operation in both cooling and hot water production from heat recovery.
In particular, the overall efficiency tested with cold water at 7 ° C and the temperature of the water leaving the recuperator at 60 ° C was 120% and 153% with water at 50 ° C. These data strengthen and consolidate the versatility of the unit, which in optimal conditions (A35W7 and return water at 30/40 ° C) is able to reach peaks of total efficiency of over 180%.
The natural consequence of this efficiency is the ability of the GA ACF HR unit to reduce electricity needs by up to 86% compared to traditional electrical systems, thanks to the prevalent use of natural gas. This feature makes the ROBUR chiller the ideal choice for all those installations in which the cooling solution does not have to rely on the electrical needs of the building.
Another advantage of the unit is that it is a chiller exempt from the F-Gas standard, as it does not use climate-altering refrigerant fluids (HFC), but only natural refrigerants that are not subject to restrictions and reporting obligations in the appropriate registers.
The efficiency, the prevalent use of natural gas and the respect for the environment have allowed ROBUR chillers to be selected for important and prestigious projects.
ROBUR solutions have been chosen for exclusive farmhouses and accommodation facilities, for important productions and for ambitious residential projects.
Furthermore, these units can also be advantageously used in combination with other gas-fired heating and / or absorption units, to create an integrated system for the production of thermal and cooling energy. That is a single chiller-heater unit, pre-assembled and connected hydraulically and electrically in the factory, capable of supplying hot water for heating and for sanitary use and cold water for cooling, with maximum flexibility and efficiency.
An example is the chiller-heater unit shown in the diagram below: a group consisting of a reversible heat pump (GAHP AR) and an ACF HR chiller, capable of providing thermal and cooling energy for the air conditioning of the premises and hot water for sanitary use completely free during the summer season.
The number of units and possible combinations are manifold, to create a chiller-heater system that is as relevant as possible to the actual needs of the building.