Producer of Automotive Plastic Components Trials i-FH Heat Pumps as Replacement for Gas Boilers

ICS Cool Energy,  an international market leader specialising in complete temperature control solutions for manufacturing process and facilities applications, installed a hire Industrial Free Heating (i-FH) solution at one of the leading European manufacturers of plastic automotive parts. The goal of the project has been to test the capability of the heat pump technology to replace the plant’s 1.5MW gas boiler heating system.

“With the rising energy costs, heat pumps are emerging as the most promising heating technology for process applications. On top of that, decarbonisation of industrial heat represents an essential element of any pathway toward net zero emission targets,” said Dave Palmer, general manager for UK and Ireland at ICS Cool Energy. “At ICS Cool Energy, we are able to prove to our customers that heat pumps are the ideal solution for a wide range of applications and the most flexible and reliable mean of electrifying heating and reducing reliance on fossil fuels”.

During the site and system inspection at the manufacturing site, the ICS Cool Energy team also investigated the plant’s cooling system to see if there are potential efficiency gains from installing a combination of heating and cooling systems. The team identified one of the aging chillers in the plant, which if replaced with a more efficient technology combined with Industrial Free Heating (i-FH) solution from ICS Cool Energy, would allow the customer to not only save energy on cooling but also get free heating at the same time. The customer decided to partially replace the existing system and hire the new solution as a trial to prove the saving capabilities.

The hire installation didn’t require shutting down the heating or cooling systems necessary for the production, which allowed the plant to continue 24/7 operations with no interruption. The opportunity to use opex instead of capex and the calculated quick return of investment also contributed to the customer’s decision to try the new technology as a hire contract versus a sale installation.

Within two weeks from the decision, the ICS Cool Energy hire team replaced the elements of the old system with a combination of a high efficiency Aptus chiller and i-FH heat pump unit, together capable to deliver 600KW of cooling and 250kW of heating. The i-FH heat pump was installed within the building in space previously occupied by of one of the old chillers, while the Aptus replaced another chiller on the roof.

By hiring the solution from ICS Cool Energy, the customer has had the chance to test and prove the efficiency and cost benefits coming from electrifying their heating system and replacing the inefficient gas boilers. The trial set-up allowed the customer to lower their energy consumption and generates annual energy costs of over £55000 – all with no capex investment. This convinced the customer to proceed with the modernization of their system and replace the rest of the boilers with ICS i-FH heat pump solutions.