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What is temperature change in well water through heat pump?

Last Post 18 Feb 2012 07:42 AM by joe.ami. 3 Replies.

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mnelson61

New Member

Posts:19

17 Feb 2012 05:52 AM
Our company produces bottled water and we are looking for ways to improve our heating and cooling system for the plant. A friend of mine has replaced his geothermal heat pump with natural gas and is willing to sell this 4 yr. old unit for under $1000.00. I don't yet have all the details on the heat pump yet but when I get them I will post if necessary. We use water continuously in our water filtration/purification process so we have a 6-7 gpm flow of water for 16 hrs per day. I would like to run the well water through the heat pump at some point in the process and basically get some "free" heating and cooling. In the summer for cooling, I know the temperature of the water will increase through the heat pump, which is actually good for us as the reverse-osmosis process is more effecient with warmer water. What I am concerned about is the temperature drop in heating mode. If the water is 10 degrees C coming in, what will the temp be after? Some other options I have considered are straight fan coil units but I am having trouble finding any at a reasonable price. I thought of just running the water through them for cooling only. I have seen the Multiaqua MHWW units and priced them at $1500.00 each! Thats pretty steep for cooling one room only!

jokin

Basic Member

Posts:105

17 Feb 2012 07:26 AM
If it doesn't affect another part of your process negativaly it would be a great way to go, also you would need to be okay with installing a used unit with unknown past and likely no warranty. Temperature drop for the source water would depend on the unit capacity or size. But, with 6-7 gpm, you would probably be limited to 3-4 ton range. At 3 tons you might be looking at ~10 deg F temp drop, or ~5.5 deg C drop. I've heard an intersting story of municipalities heating/cooling their entire gov't complex with large water source heat pumps that tapped the main water treatment line as the source. However, there is no free lunch, and some might argue it was a hidden domestic hot water tax on the residents, as it is arguable that many residents could have colder water coming to their houses (so they paid more to heat their DHW compared to before)..... although the affect would diminished for longer pipe lengths (houses further away from where the heat was extracted) as ground heat is transferred back in to that water over the length of the pipe.

mnelson61

New Member

Posts:19

18 Feb 2012 05:20 AM
Thanks for the reply. I will check our membrane performance graphs to see what a 5 degree temperature change will do to our output. You may be right about the "no free lunch" as I may end up running the RO system for a few more hours to make up for reduced output when the heat pump is providing heat.

joe.ami

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Posts:4377
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18 Feb 2012 07:42 AM
"free" is not always a good deal. you need to know size and requirements etc., but I like the idea of using the heat energy from water you are running anyway.

Joe Hardin www.amicontracting.com We Dig Comfort! www.doityourselfgeothermal.com Dig Your Own Comfort!