Ground Breaking Trigeneration Technology Developed by Weatherite.

The Weatherite Group, based in the West Midlands, are experts in the Heating, Venting and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and Building Services sectors with five separate operating companies; Weatherite Manufacturing Limited, Weatherite Building Services Limited, Weatherite Service & Maintenance Limited, Weatherite Electrical Limited and Weatherite Shopfronts & Shutters Limited. Founded in 1972, Weatherite's latest project aims to reduce carbon emissions for the HVAC industry.

This Trigeneration system is called the ADsorption chiller and has been initially installed at Tesco in Colney Hatch. It is designed to reduce carbon emissions and energy use, and is the greener alternative to the adsorption chiller.

Tesco's figures show that the ADsorption chiller has significantly reduced the energy usually used on powering their usual fridges; the equivalent of boiling two million kettles. It is generating 800kW of 'green' electricity due to how the process works.

It uses a sustainable bio-fuel source to produce chilled water, which then powers the refrigeration and air conditioning systems from the waste heat produced from the power generating process instead of the conventional use of electricity. There is no Lithium Bromide (LiBr) involved in the process, which also adds to the chiller's environmental impact as LiBr has a lot of associated environmental problems. In addition, no other refrigerants are used which means that there will be no corrosion, crystallisation, hazardous leaks or chemical testing, and thus reduces maintenance time and costs.

The initial cooling process works by using water as a refrigerant, which is absorbed into a bed of silica gel. Heat is then removed under a low pressure by boiling. The chilled water produced is as low at 4 degrees Celsius which will be especially beneficial to industries such as supermarkets where a lot of cooling and air conditioning is required.

The plant room in which the ADsorption chiller has been installed has been designed by various experts including Cogenco, Scott Wilson and Space Engineering, with Weatherite leading the way. In addition to these experts, Fleetsolve, a specialist sustainable fuel consultant company, has been heavily involved with the process.

As the recent Stern Review by the Government has been received by UK businesses, it has and will become increasingly important to reduce greenhouse emissions by 20% by 2010. Bio fuel trigeneration technology will play an important part in this. Also, it is important for businesses to move away from reliance on the National Grid and maintain their own decentralised systems for chilling and air conditioning. With the ADsorption chiller, Weatherite hope to establish a major market presence in these departments to benefit businesses over the coming years.

Weatherite maintain sole manufacturing rights to the ADsorption chiller in Europe.

For further information and a comprehensive list of companies who offer air conditioning services, please visit our website at http://www.buildingregister.com.