Erda co-operates with supermarket chain to develop next step in geo-exchange technology
Erda’s new geo-exchange installation at a supermarket store in the North of England uses an innovative new technology, which utilises the placement of a synthetic load on the store’s refrigeration system to bypass the need for an external heat pump. This allows Erda to provide heating to the store with a much smaller plantroom than would have previously been necessary. Given that one of the main benefits of an Erda system is a much lower surface space requirement than that of competing systems, any further reduction in surface footprint puts the client at a huge advantage in terms of space saving and allows them to consider implementing geo-exchange systems in locations which previously would not have been able to accommodate one.
Another space-saving addition which we have made to our system is the use of a single, combined Erda | deep enclosure, as opposed to the individual enclosures which would traditionally be used. This has further reduced the surface footprint of the system, whilst maintaining our ability to provide highly efficient heating. The Erda | deep shroud is directly adjacent to the plantroom exterior, and therefore eliminates the need for long flowlines between the energy centre and the Erda | deep array. This change not only keeps the system compact but eliminates the (already low) energy losses which occur between the ground array and the energy centre, further improving system efficiency.
Fig. 1 Erda | deep enclosure
With an average CoP of 4.76 (as of 22/09/2022), Erda’s system performance is already high. This has been achieved through years of optimisation and analysis of the heating demands of our system locations. It would be easy to stop here and be content with our highly efficient geo-exchange systems. However, it is part of our ethos that we always can – and will – do better. This new system is an indication of our commitment to developing Erda technologies and continuing to improve.
Given the pressing need for the implementation of renewable heating and cooling, it is imperative that we find solutions which are adaptable to as many locations as possible. The use of the combined Erda | deep shroud along with the lack of an external heat pump makes it possible to deliver low carbon heating and cooling to clients which are struggling for space, and therefore accomplish our goals of minimising the carbon emissions of the heating sector.