Using Waste Heat for Air Conditioning

BROAD Central Air Conditioning Chiller

Air-conditioning and waste heat are two phrases that would make any environment-conscious person groan in protest. While one has become almost a necessity in the oppressive heat experienced in some parts of the world, the other is the culprit responsible for some of the worst offenses against the environment.

A Chinese company called Broad Central Air however, has created a marriage between these two that would enable the world to view them in a completely different light.

Clean air conditioning?

That is what the company promises: a low carbon cooling technology that uses hot water from waste to make A/C without fossil fuels, saving 80% of energy consumption over fossil-fueled A/Cs.

This waste heat…

Can come from many industrial sources like methane from landfill, biogas, recycled oil etc. It also can use waste hot water directly from other industrial sources such as steam, hot water or exhaust. Any source of hot water at around 185 degrees Fahrenheit can also do the job, so geothermal or utility-scale solar thermal hot water could also be used for this purpose.

The process…

That makes this technology possible is fairly complicated so won’t be going in to detail here. But for anyone interested, a detailed explanation is given here (PDF)

What’s important at the end of the day is this: by waste heat recycling this new industrial scale air conditioning technology saves 70% to 80% of the CO₂ emissions from traditional A/Cs that are powered by non-recycled fossil fuels!