Bakery Use Overview
Industrial Wholesale Bakeries use Proofers in most of their processes and the traditional heating medium has been steam or hot water from a “boiler”. Most companies would prefer not to have boilers as they are costly to maintain with chemical treatment and are inefficient, normally less than 70% due to combustion losses, long piping runs, etc. Our Guaranteed Solution is a Proofer “Heat Pump” which will replace the traditional boilers and depending on the application can be air or water source with design elements that may be harnessed in almost every area of the world.
Heat Pump Types
Industrial Baking facilities simultaneously use both heating & cooling in their processes which allows the opportunity to benefit from Industrial Heat Pump (IHP) technologies. IHP’s can be driven by electric (IEHP) or gas fired, commonly referred to as absorption heat pump (IAHP) & are selected based on the utility costs & application. Heat pumps operate on the premise of extracting heat from a source and moving this heat to another with sizes ranging from 5 to over a 1,000 tons. IAHP efficiencies are double that of a traditional boiler and they provide “free” cooling so the return on investment is normally immediate on new installations and less than 4-years in retrofit applications.
Applications
- Southeastern United States/Mexico/South America have regions which struggle with high summer proofing temperatures. An Air Management Proofer Heat Pump can automatically provide heating or cooling.
- Can provide water heating when proofer load is below maximum (non-cold start in winter).
- Gas-fired models can be used for Oven Steam with feedwater pre-heat.
- Can be combined with other Air Management Technologies Closed-Loop Energy Systems (scalable).
Science
From a scientific perspective, the reason that IHP’s are so efficient is that the energy absorbed by the heat source is added to the energy input. For example, a 1,000,000 BTUH input boiler that operates at 80% efficiency provides 800,000 BTUH. With the same input, energy to IAHP with a 0.7 (COP) will provide 1,400,000 and free 50-tons of cooling.
Sustainability & Cost Saving Benefits
We understand it is important in business to drive out cost and IHP’s provide a way of doing this while also demonstrating environmental stewardship. In the baking industry, we have a unique opportunity to lead the way with processes designed that allows Closed Loop Energy Systems to capture waste and return it as useful process energy providing both energy savings and carbon reductions.
Heating efficiencies are double conventional systems. An existing newer steam boiler through piping and losses is typically 70% efficient compared to 120% for an air-sourced heat pump and 140% for a water-sourced heat pump. The ability to additionally provide free chilled water or glycol cooling (Co-Generation) in a single packaged results in additional savings.
Systems can be designed for both natural gas fired where electricity cost is high, or electric where natural gas cost is high or not available. The Air Management Technologies’ Proofer Heat Pump may also qualify for utility incentives depending on the location.
