Heat pump/chiller system for centralized kitchens in India

A heat pump unit using CO2 as working fluid is designed to meet not only a part of the heating demand in the centralised kitchen at The Akshaya Patra Foundation, Bengaluru, India, but also the entire cooling demand to replace the existing HCFC units for AC. The proposed heat pump system generates hot water at ~90oC which is stored in hot water storage tanks for use in the cooking cauldrons. Moreover, the existing space cooling systems are replaced by a centralised cooling system which circulates chilled water. In order to handle the fluctuation in cold and hot water demand, thermal storage systems are proposed. This concept offers substantial reductions in GHG emissions from the cooling system (approximately 60%). Furthermore, for the overall system (cooking process and space cooling) the reduction in energy demand, energy cost and GHG emissions are all above 30%.