5 December 2018
EMMA PREMIUM and the Gas Absorption Heat Pumps (GAHP)
Is it possible to combine renewables and advanced gas technology in a single system? With EMMA PREMIUM, the system that optimizes the gas pre-heating process, Regas combines the EMMA technology with the gas absorption heat pump (GAHP), which allows to produce heat through renewables (in particular through air source). The high efficiency of the EMMA system can be even increased thanks to the addition of the pump outside of the pressure regulating station, in parallel to the traditional heaters. A non-invasive installation, which leads up to 50% more efficiency compared to standard heating systems and allows to combine renewable energies with gas industry innovation.
A heat pump is a device that makes heat production more efficient by reducing the consumptions required to start the process. It works like a water pump: in this case, the pump is capable to transfer heat from a cold element (such as external environment) to a warmer one (such as a water tank).
The pump needs energy to do that. In particular, it can be powered by electricity (compression heat pump) or fuelled by natural gas (gas absorption heat pump). The high efficiency of this tool lies in the fact that the production of energy is higher than the energy consumed by the pump. This is possible because the pump is able to draw energy from the external environment (thermal energy, which is considered to be a renewable source).
Compression heat pumps have an index of efficiency (COP = Coefficient Of Performance, that is the ratio of energy produced to energy consumed), which is rather high compared to gas heat pumps. The average value of COP is approximately 3. However, this coefficient is lower when the temperature gap is higher, that is when external temperature are extremely low.
Gas heat pumps efficiency is measured with GUE (Gas Utilization Efficiency), which is similar to COP but is specific for gas. This coefficient is lower than the COP for electric pumps (average value is about 1,5), but it ensures greater stability and better performances because gas pumps aren’t affected by temperature drops. In fact, gas pumps can guarantee excellent performances up to -20°C. Moreover, gas and electric pumps are generally equal with regard to CO2 emissions.
