Acting smart with ammonia

Traditionally, Denmark’s colours are red and white – but the country is also very green. One of Denmark’s largest food processors thinks so, too, and repeatedly opts for Ammonia Compressor Packs made by BITZER (ACPs). Last year they initiated another big project: since early 2018, two ACPs with three IQ modules each cater for the production of ice water with +1°C, serving the customer’s production processes. Their reliable partner in this case: ICS Industrial Cooling Systems. The Danish system manufacturer has been partnering with BITZER since 1987.

Mikael Olsen, Project Manager at ICS, reports: “It’s a longer story: in January 2018, ICS brought two ACPs into operation at one of our biggest customers, who subsequently disposed of a refrigeration capacity of 4 MW at their central cooling plant. Concept and implementation were convincing, so planning for the final completion with BITZER ACPs with a total capacity of 12 MW began. A requirement was the use of products from BITZER, since some years ago ICS delivered and installed a rack which was constructed with BITZER components.” For this new application, system requirements were very clear: the solution had to fulfil specific claims regarding the capacity demand of a high COP and compact sizes. Now this design performs at a COP of 6.2. Claus Groenne, Regional Manager BITZER Nordic, agrees: “We know that ICS attaches great importance to the COP – so we recognised right away that ACPs would be the best solution to go with in this special case.”

Ammonia has no global warming potential, making it an excellent choice for environmentally conscious Danish companies. There are two screw compressors in each ACP, with each compressor and oil separator being monitored by a BITZER IQ module. These modules operate all compressor features such as the mechanical capacity control, additional cooling, oil return and the oil heater. They also monitor the oil level, the discharge gas and motor temperature, and can even monitor the application limits of the compressor.

Mikael Olsen recapitulates: “The ACPs are running very well. We often opt for ammonia, as it is highly efficient and has no global warming potential. This was a very important argument for our customer. At their premises, there are also more than 20 BITZER screw compressors in operation using ammonia as well. Currently, we have four BITZER ACP units running there which are meant for refrigeration and four of our own heat pump units using BITZER screw compressors. BITZER provides excellent service for all of them.”