Overview

Being one of the largest providers of products in the sustainable food industry, there is a need for refrigeration machinery, and that is where CIMCO came in with the installation of their ECO CHILL^® Heat Pump.  CIMCO’s ECO CHILL^® Heat Pump has been using refrigeration waste heat, generated by the refrigeration process, for a number of years by collecting, recycling and re-using this heat for building and product heating. The function of an ammonia heat pump, using a conventional compressor’s discharge heat as the energy source, provides a higher level and quality of heat. This is particularly true where the use of refrigeration and hot water are both in high demand. CIMCO took this concept to Maple Leaf Foods, and in a joint effort the design, construction and implementation of a 1,000 HP CIMCO Ammonia Heat Pump went from a vision to a reality, leading to Maple Leaf Foods reaping the  benefits for nearly 10 years now. 

In this plant, refrigeration requirements have been served by a CIMCO multi-temperature 14,000 HP ammonia refrigeration system generating more than 8,600 TR for years. The hot water requirements are mandated by the Maple Leaf Foods “Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point” (HACCP) program and can surpass 500 gallons per minute, which traditionally relied on NG boilers and direct contact water heaters.

The plant’s HACCP program mandated that the hot water be available at no less than 132ºF. With the ECO CHILL^® Ammonia Heat Pump, the plant discharge ammonia gas at 140 to 160 psi is used as suction gas in the heat pump compressor, boosting it to more than 185ºF on the condensing side, and enabling the system to achieve the required water temperature.