New heat pump design promises efficient central heating

Johnson Controls is introducing a new technology in China to meet the growing demand for central heating that does not emit harmful pollutants. The York Dual Steam Turbine (YDST) heat pump recycles surplus heat from industrial or power plants into higher temperature hot water that can be used to operate large central heating plants.

(The YDST technology is an innovation for the Chinese market)

Compared to traditional boiler heating, the YDST is likely to reduce coal consumption by up to 30 percent while supplying the same amount of heat.

This technology is an innovation for the Chinese market where the government has made a commitment in its Five-Year Plan to reduce pollution from the burning of fossil fuels. The plan uses industrial surplus heat as a major source of urban heating. 

It is a centrifugal heat pump - driven by a steam turbine, not electric - that supplies over 100 MW of heat per heat pump system, doubling the current capacity available, and can accept waste hot water as low as 50^oF to 120^oF and increase the temperature up to 140^oF to over 200^oF.

The demand for central heating is estimated to grow significantly in northern China over the next five years. Johnson Controls, a global multi-industrial company, has implemented a heat recovery solution at a northeast Chinese municipal heating facility. It is said to have saved more than US$1.2 million while alleviating the need to burn 9,200 tons of coal in the last heating season. R

ecently, the company opened a US$35 million expansion of its manufacturing and research and development center in Wuxi, China.