Project Overview
Approved for funding through ERA’s Natural Gas Challenge in 2021, Enersion developed a nano-porous material-based cooling technology powered by low-grade heat for commercial and industrial settings. By completion in 2024, Enersion’s 50-tonne adsorption chiller was successfully integrated with an operational combined heat and power (CHP) system at Hart Land Farming, proving the feasibility of tri-generation for cooling, heating and electricity generation.
Adsorption Chiller Provides Efficient Cooling, Heating, and Electricity
The project aimed to demonstrate an energy system that integrates natural gas-based heating, cooling, and power generation, while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Enersion’s adsorption-based chiller integrates with a CHP unit, using low-grade waste heat to produce cooling. The chiller uses water as a refrigerant, avoiding synthetic refrigerants. The system is powered by waste heat, which requires a fraction of the electricity required by conventional cooling systems. The technology enables year-round utilization of CHP heat output, which is often wasted during summer months. This addresses the challenges in energy efficiency and GHG emissions reduction in the heating, cooling, and power generation sector. The technology can be deployed in various applications, including office buildings, hospitals, industrial facilities and agricultural sites.
Successful Demonstration Achieves Electrical Efficiency
A smaller 20-tonne chiller was developed first to validate design parameters. Data from this prototype informed adjustments to scale the system up to 50-tonne capacity. The system was installed at Hart Land Farming in Alberta and integrated with their existing operational natural gas-powered CHP unit. Following integration, the chiller was tested under real-world operating conditions, evaluating temperature, flow rate, energy consumption and heat utilization. This marks the first full-scale deployment in an agricultural CHP setting. Flow rate adjustments and system balancing improved performance, and new design enhancements were identified for future optimization.
The commissioning phase involved testing, performance optimization, and data collection and analysis, which validated the scalability and feasibility of the technology for commercial and industrial applications. Operational challenges during implementation led to future design enhancements, developing a new horizontal design, making the system more compact and efficient. During the demonstration, the system achieved an electrical Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 27.3.
The original project plan incorporated quad-generation. The fourth factor, carbon dioxide utilization, was removed from the scope when the project relocated to Hart Land Farming from its original site host. The tri-generation mode is compatible with the needs of most installations with CHP systems, which focus on electric power, space heating, hot water and space cooling. Hart Land Farming offered the necessary infrastructure and operational CHP systems, which led to a seamless transition and successful demonstration.
What’s next?
Going forward, Enersion will work to further optimize the technology performance, such as refining the adsorption cycle to increase overall system efficiency, improving material design and system control to lower heat input requirements to be compatible with a wider range of low-grade heat sources, and optimizing the condenser design to utilize domestic hot water applications.
Enersion has secured multiple commercial projects and feasibility studies with major organizations. Enersion will expand the technology deployment with future demonstration projects, such as utility headquarters in the US, to test in a commercial urban setting. Additionally, industrial and agricultural sites in Alberta to demonstrate energy cost reduction for the manufacturing and food production sectors. Enersion has plans to scale manufacturing and production capacity, obtain regulatory certifications in major markets, and develop sales channels and strategic partnerships to accelerate commercialization and technology adoption in the province and beyond.