Energy technology: a new business area - Scherdel GmbH

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Industrial waste heat,
a valuable ‘resource’
Absorption chiller from Econ Energietechnik
GmbH cools server centre in Dessau
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING – LOCATIONS – TECHNOLOGY & PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT – NEWS AND INFORMATION
Contact data
Econ
Energietechnik GmbH
Marco Bauer
Scherdelstraße 2
D-95643 Marktredwitz
Tel.: +49 (0) 9231 603-556
Fax: +49 (0) 9231 603-621
Email:
marco.bauer@econ-web.de
The process principle shows that
95% of the required energy can be
generated from waste heat.
C
omputers, servers and networks
are, so to speak, the lifelines of a
company. Without these technical aids,
a modern manufacturing location would
simply end up standing still. Server
rooms are therefore equipped with
cutting-edge air conditioning to prevent
system failure at all costs. If you consider
how many server rooms there are
around the world and how much energy
is required to ensure a comfortable
atmosphere, it is quite obvious that
cooling with electricity is not the best
solution in terms of environmental protection
and sustainability. But there is
an energy source that is produced as a
ʻby-productʼ in numerous industrial
processes and quite often demands
expensive disposal methods – waste
heat. The latest development of the
SCHERDEL subsidiary Econ Energietechnik
GmbH is based on this fundamental
principle: an absorption chiller
which can be operated with district heat
or heat from solar thermal plants.
The German Federal Ministry for the
Environment – which is always searching
for new and environmentally friendly
technologies – expressed considerable
interest in this Econ innovation. The
absorption chiller was constructed as a
prototype for a demonstration project
backed by the Technical University
Berlin and has since been installed
in Dessau.
automation system and used to cool
the server centre, print shop, lecture
auditorium and training rooms. The
core aim of the German Federal
Ministry for the Environment at its site
in Dessau is to manage conditions within
a building as energy-efficiently as
possible. A decisive factor for the commissioning
of Econ was, among other
things, the excellent reputation which
SCHERDEL has gained as an automotive
industry supplier. The Groupʼs
expertise in the application of welding
technology was particularly crucial.
Precise workmanship and the quality of
production play an important role in the
vacuum technology integrated in the
absorption chiller. After all, these types
of machines must also
remain hermetically
sealed for longer periods.
The absorption
chiller produced for
the German Federal
Ministry for the Environment
in Dessau with a
cooling capacity of less
than 100 kW is one of
the smaller systems of
a possible series. In
addition to the generation
of cooling energy
from industrial waste heat and solar
cooling, the technology is also suitable
for combined heat, power and cooling,
for solar heating support (the absorption
chiller is both a cooling unit and a
heat pump) and for geothermal applications.
The machine was constructed by
ZARIAN-Bewegungssysteme GmbH,
which is also a SCHERDEL subsidiary
and a specialist in the mechanical engineering
sector. This ensures the best
possible use of Group synergies. Econ
Energietechnik GmbH plans to build on
its existing knowledge base in cooperation
with two renowned research institutes.
(dk)
2
It is currently integrated in the building