Solutions for Enegy
SANYO's absorption chiller utilizes water vaporization heat to cool down a large space, instead of using global-warming CFCs as a refrigerant. SANYO has 37 years of history with this product and has installed many units in various large-scale facilities in Japan and overseas. In this product field, SANYO holds Japan's No. 1 share and also a high share in countries like China and Korea. Due to its stellar installation record over the long term and quality stability, SANYO absorption chillers were selected for installation in Malaysia's Putrajaya District, where Malaysia is planning to relocate its capital functions, and they are in full operation to cool down the new urban area as a whole.
Where absorption chillers are being installed
SANYO comprehensively carries out its commercial air conditioner business from production to sales based on 3 major pillars: absorption chiller; all-in-one air conditioning system; and gas heat pump (GHP). Among these items, absorption chiller is the largest type of heating and cooling system.
An absorption chiller produces cold and hot water and is used as a heat source in the heating/cooling system for a large-scale building or a district. It is also used as a heater for the distillation process in a chemical factory. SANYO has the capacity to produce a variety of absorption chiller units from 20-refrigeration ton scale unit (corresponds to approximately 30 units of household air conditioners) to the world's largest-class 6,600-refrigeration ton scale unit capable of cooling approximately 200,000 m2.
SANYO entered the absorption chiller market in 1971. Though not being the first to enter the market, through proposing a new cooling system using gas, we succeeded in working in cooperation with major gas companies, which enabled entry into production only one year after making the decision to commercialize. It took SANYO only 3 years to become the industry top and domestic sales have expanded steadily since, primarily through being part of big projects, such as ever-increasing urban area redevelopments. In addition, thanks to its feature of requiring very little electric power, demand has grown rapidly overseas as well. We have supplied a number of absorption chillers to countries like China and Korea, where the sudden increase in building construction has caused power supply shortages.
[Examples of Actual Product Introduction]
District heating/cooling systems in Northern Europe (Gothenburg, Sweden etc.),
Tokyo Dome, New Chitose Airport, Sendai Airport, Okawabata River City 21, Osaka Nanko Cosmosquare etc.
There are two reasons why the absorption chiller is friendly to the environment. First, it uses no CFCs that contribute to ozone layer depletion and global warming. Water's boiling point goes down as the atmospheric pressure goes up. In an absorption chiller unit, water reaches its boiling point at approximately 4
under a pressure of 1/100 atmospheres which is close to being a vacuum. And when water evaporates, vaporization heat is absorbed to cool the surrounding temperature. Second, it uses “Heat” as the driving energy source instead of electricity. In addition to natural gas, various heat sources may be used, including exhaust heat from factories and waste incineration plants, geothermal heat, solar heat, and exhaust heat from cogeneration systems.
Further, in Japan, the government promotes gas-driven air conditioners to reduce power consumption in summer. An installation subsidy system and special gas price system are available, contributing to accelerated dissemination of absorption chillers.
To clear up inefficient interspersed administrative functions and chronic traffic congestion in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, in 1993 the Malaysian government decided to build a new administrative city in a suburban area of Kuala Lumpur. Based on this decision, by 2010 a major part of the federal government, except for some agencies such as the Ministry of Defence, will move to the Putrajaya District located 25 km south of Kuala Lumpur. A total of 5 new zones are being developed in series, such as a government zone, commercial zone, and sport/recreation zone.
Energy supply center
In this district, a district cooling system was introduced. With this system, instead of installing an air conditioning system in each building, cold water is supplied to each building through underground piping from the energy supply center built in each district and the supplied cold water is converted to cold air to cool the inside of buildings. The supply center for this district introduced SANYO's absorption chillers as its large air conditioning equipment. From 2002 to 2006, 13 absorption chillers were installed (capacity equal to approximately 30,000 household air conditioners) to cool down the entire new urban area being constructed (approximately 460,000 m2). Their dependability has been recognized and as a result 4 more units will be installed this year to cool land around the convention center.
Putrajaya street scene
Since an absorption chiller uses natural gas and exhaust heat as the heat source to make cold water directly, even for cooling a huge space like an urban place, it is not necessary to build a large-scale power generation facility. In Putrajaya District, an abundance of natural gas with low environmental impact is available, which enables urban development in harmony with nature.
Office of Prime Minister of Malaysia
In 2002, SANYO installed two 1,350-refrigeration ton scale direct gas fired absorption chillers in the joint development zone “Precinct-2.” They operated without any breakdown and such quality stability led to confidence in the product. Consequently, we installed five 1,200-refrigeration ton scale direct gas fired absorption chillers in the sport/recreation zone “Precinct-5” in 2004 and 2005 and six units of the same kind in the government zone “Precinct-1” between 2004 and 2006. Thus, SANYO's absorption chillers are helping to create a comfortable living environment in hot and humid regions by stably supplying cold water for air conditioning.
Area where Convention Center is being constructed. This year, 4 new absorption chillers will be installed in this area.
KJ Engineering has been a distributor of SANYO's absorption chillers for over 15 years and we take great pride in working with SANYO.
Throughout the years, we have been receiving orders on an ongoing basis from the government-related developer carrying out the Putrajaya Project. This indicates the reliability of SANYO's absorption chillers and their reputation in the area. SANYO also provides efficient backup service, which further enhances their reputation.”
Requirements related to absorption chiller development vary significantly by regional conditions.
In environmentally-advanced European countries, there is a high interest in cogeneration systems which realize approximately double the energy efficiency of conventional systems through utilizing heat energy to be disposed of for heating/cooling and supplying hot water. Accordingly, needs for a type of unit which uses exhaust heat and hot discharged water as a heat source are increasing.
In the Japanese market, there is strong expectation for equipment capable of higher efficiency. There are persistent needs for products with environmentally-friendly features, such as energy-saving and CO2 reduction through improved efficiency and less emission of environmentally-harmful NOx from combustion.
Thus, SANYO not only develops products according to the needs of individual regions but also promotes creation of environmentally-conscious products using natural refrigerant. In this way, highly-efficient products are offered which are highly appreciated.
In the future, in anticipation of replacement demand, SANYO will bring easy-to-install energy-saving products to the market. At the same time, we will accelerate the development of environmentally-conscious products which use natural energies, such as biogas, solar heat, and wind power, as a heat source as we transform into a “leading provider of Environment- and Energy-related products.”
