Johnson Controls Joins Ammonia21.com as Gold Partner

Johnson Controls International (JCI) has joined some of the industry’s leading ammonia companies as a gold partner on ammonia21.com.

Headquartered in the U.S., JCI offers a wide variety of products and services to make buildings around the world “smarter” and more energy efficient. The JCI portfolio includes natural refrigerant products for cooling and heating.

One of the brands under JCI is the Danish OEM Sabroe, which produces ammonia compressors, chillers and heat pumps. Sabroe’s compressor portfolio includes both reciprocating and screw compressors.

Sabro recently launched a new high-temperature ammonia heat pump, called the 273 S, which is capable of delivering 95°C (203°F) heat with “minimal energy.” Sabroe touts the 273 S as a “highly efficient” and compact heat pump, optimized for large-scale ammonia heat pump installations and ideal for district heating systems.

The 273 S high-temperature ammonia heat pump sports screw compressors with a new “optimized rotor profile in a very robust design ensuring exceptional reliability, low deflection, high efficiency and long service life.”

It has capacities from 4 to 7MW and can be configured with different heat-exchanger layouts in both single- and two-stage solutions. In a single-stage configuration, the 273 S has a COP between 3.7 and 5.4, depending on the input and output temperatures required. In a two-stage configuration, it can achieve a COP between 2.9 and 3.4.

Sabroe ammonia heat pumps are used by several district heating providers in Denmark. Last year, district heating provider Marstal Fjernvarme chose to replace a 10-year-old CO₂ (R744) heat pump with a new ammonia/NH3 (R717) system, increasing its COP from just over 3 to an annual average of 5 to 5.5. The heat pumps chosen for this particular solution were Sabroe 716 HPX ammonia heat pumps.

The significant increase in COP was possible because the heat source for the district heating network is water from a 75,000m³ (2,648,600ft³) covered reservoir heated by solar panels. This means that the source temperature varies with the amount of sunlight. In late summer and fall, the source temperature increases to 50°C (122°F), and the ammonia heat pumps are better at utilizing these high temperatures than CO₂ heat pumps, according to the contractor on the project. 

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