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Frequently asked questions about R.A.S.E.R.S System™

     
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How does a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ work?

A R.A.S.E.R.S System™ works by absorbing thermal energy or heat from the ambient air, a liquid waste stream,  a hot air exhaust or a process or facility that requires cooling using a vapor compression refrigeration technology. The captured heat is then transferred efficiently into a liquid such as water or oil. The heated liquid can then be used directly or in different applications such as:

space heating

heating potable water

heating process water for Laundromats, car washes, showers, facility cleanup, pre-washing for painting applications, meat processing facilities, boiler makeup, boiler air preheat, etc.

A R.A.S.E.R.S System™ is competitive with air-to-air and ground source heat pumps for residential and commercial space heating and cooling applications.  However a R.A.S.E.R.S System™  has its most economical application in facilities or processes where there is a continuous need for heating and either excess heat (a need for cooling) or low grade waste heat that can be recycled more efficiently than it can generated by direct combustion or resistant electric heating.

 

 

 

 

What are the 3 modes of operation of a R.A.S.E.R.S System™?

The Waters Hot’s R.A.S.E.R.S System™ operates in three different modes: 

The first mode is called the rejection.

A refrigerator always creates hot and cold at the same time. When this system is placed in a heating and cooling operation that can not utilize either the heat or cold, then the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ must reject the unwanted heating or cooling side into the atmosphere.  

When operating in rejection mode, the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ usually saves from 20 to 25 percent of the energy cost for heating and cooling -
such as in a home. 

 The second mode is called recycling.

In this mode of operation the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ recycles either heat or cold that would normally be wasted to where it can be utilized. Examples include laundry facilities, restaurants, car washes. 

For example; There is a restaurant in Humboldt, Ia. where two units were installed for a $24,000 cost. It creates air condition in the seating area and puts the heat into the hot water. It will also air condition the kitchen even throughout the Winter. In addition, It will take heat from the kitchen exhaust vents and first provide hot water. The second priority will be space heating the dinning area.. The R.A.S.E.R.S System™ is saving the restaurant $8,600 a year in energy costs according to an independent audit sponsored by he utility serving the restaurant. 

When operating in recycle mode, the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ generally saves 50 to 60 percent in energy costs. 

 The third mode is cogeneration.

 In this mode, the system is balanced and providing both hot and cold at the same time. An example is a plastic injection molding machine. An injection molding machine closes and has raw plastic material measured into the mold. Then, steam is injected into the mold expanding the plastic to form and fill the mold. Following this step, cold water is piped through the mold to set it up and make it so the part will come out of the mold when opened.  

In this operation, the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ cools the returning cold water input taking the heat out and making the cold water available for reuse, and puts that heat into the water going into the boiler to make steam. 

When operating in co-generating mode, the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ can save 60 to 70 percent of the energy costs.

 

 

  

 

How is a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ different from a ground source
or geothermal heat pump?

A R.A.S.E.R.S System™ is primarily different from geothermal heat pumps because it can be installed anywhere without need for wells or buried or submerged heat exchange loops. 

These loops tend to make the cost of installation of a ground source heat pump significantly greater than the cost of a R.A.S.E.R.S System™, which can significantly protract the payback period. 

Further it can be difficult and in some cases impossible to install the loops or wells for a ground source heat pump due to permitting requirements and potential ground water impacts. Ground source heat pumps have an increasingly limited application with increasing concern about ground water quality. 

Finally, some ground source heat pumps are installed without sufficient loop capacity or in soils where there is poor thermal performance so that the seasonal performance is reduced.

 

 

 

 

How is a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ different than an air-to-air Heat Pump?

A R.A.S.E.R.S System™ is different than an air-to-air heat pump because it collects heat from air or a liquid and places the heat into a liquid such as water or oil.  An air-to-air heat pump collects heat from air and discharges the heat to air. 

The amount of energy used to collect heat from air with a fan and heat exchanger at a given temperature is greater than the amount of energy to collect heat from water with a pump and heat exchanger at the same temperature.  This provides the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ with one of its efficiency advantages over the air-to-air heat pump.

Further, the R.A.S.E.R.S System™  includes, as an option, the finless evaporator which allows the system to collect heat from dirty environments.  The finless design allows the evaporator to be easily cleaned.  When the finless evaporator is placed in an existing warm air or liquid stream, then the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ will have a significant reduction in energy requirements since an additional fan or pump is not needed to support the collection of energy in the evaporator.

 

 

 

 

Isn’t a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ just a Heat Pump?

This is a much debated question to which, given the similarities and differences described below, we say: No it is not a heat pump.

Similarities:

A R.A.S.E.R.S System™ and a heat pump both utilize the vapor compression cycle and a refrigerant to capture heat and move it from one location to another.  In other words, both R.A.S.E.R.S System™ and heat pumps could actually be correctly called refrigeration systems although a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ should be a new class of refrigeration system specifically designed for recycling energy and energy efficiency applications.

The R.A.S.E.R.S System™ and various types of heat pumps will collect heat from air or a liquid such as water and both will discharge heat to air or a liquid such as water. 

Differences:

As a class of vapor compression equipment, heat pumps primarily utilize a reversing valve to allow the heat pump to reverse the direction of heat flow.  Thus, the heat exchangers for a heat pump are designed to work both as evaporators or heat collection/cooling devices and as condensers or heat emitting devices.  This is convenient in that it helps to reduce the amount of equipment needed to alternately heat and cool a space with the same piece of machinery.  However, since the two heat exchangers are optimized to work together, they will typically only be optimized for one of the two environments in which they are placed.   

For example, air-to-air heat pumps and ground source heat pumps will typically be designed for comfort cooling in a residential or commercial application.  In colder climates this often means that the heating side of the heat pump will be undersized for the heating demand of the space.

The R.A.S.E.R.S System™ is designed to optimize both the heating and the cooling effects in whatever environment it is placed, since it does not use a reversing valve.  A R.A.S.E.R.S System™ provides one or more evaporators and one or more condensers that are all optimized for the environment where they will be operating.  While this can increase the cost of a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ relative to an air-to-air heat pump, it allows the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ to be more efficient whenever it is operating. 

Conventional heat pumps are characteristically limited to two heat exchangers in two environments and are typically not associated with any form of energy storage system.

Because it provides ability to capture heat or provide cooling to one or more locations (one at a time) and discharge heat to one or more locations (one at a time), the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ is able to operate more hours of the year providing useful cooling and/or heating. The more the system can operate, the faster it will pay for itself -- particularly as it displaces fossil fuel fired heating and especially when it is doing useful cooling and useful heating at the same time.  While installing more than one evaporator and more than one condenser increases the cost to install the system, the added versatility allows the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ to payback more quickly.  Most of the applications where it has been applied, the simple payback has been in the range of 2 to 5 years.

Further, since the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ inherently utilizes a liquid cooled condenser and a hot liquid storage device, the R.A.S.E.R.S System™  has the capability of collecting heat when it is available and storing it for use when it is needed.  With proper evaporator (chiller) and storage system selection it would also be possible to use the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ to store cooling capacity.

 

 

 

 

Why is the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ technology more efficient than other existing technologies, such as an air-to-air heat pump or a geo-thermal heat pump?

A R.A.S.E.R.S System™ by design provides flexibility to collect heat from multiple locations and discharge the heat to one or more locations.  Since the evaporators and condensers are designed for a specific environment they will be able to operate at higher efficiencies than condensers and evaporators that may be designed for environments where there is a wide range of conditions. 

Since one side or both sides of the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ vapor compression cycle will be using liquid cooled heat exchangers, the system will have an efficiency advantage over technologies that use only air based heat exchangers.

In some applications, the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ evaporator may be placed in an environment where there is no need for additional pumps or fans to collect heat.  This is always a significant efficiency advantage.

The inherent design of a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ also includes storage and the ability to support more than one evaporator.  With storage and multiple heat collection options, the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ is able to maximize it operating hours and drive down the length of the payback period.  Refrigerant compressors are best used continuously rather than in a cyclical manner.  So increasing the hours of operation can actually be a good thing, both financially in terms of payback and from the stand point of long term maintenance.

The R.A.S.E.R.S System™ uses floating head pressure control which means that there are no pressure control devices stealing capacity to hold the head pressure at some predefined level.  The R.A.S.E.R.S System™ achieves head pressure control inherently through the design, configuration, and operational settings of its components.

In some applications, useful heating and useful cooling can be done simultaneously, which nearly doubles the efficiency since the same kWh of electricity is performing both functions.

In some applications a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ has been able to provide residual affects such as reduced humidity in a space heating or reduced water and chemical consumption costs and water disposal costs in water based cooling processes.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                        
Can a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ cool my house or facility in the warm summer months?

Yes one of the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ evaporators can be a cooling coil in an air handler or a chiller for chilled water systems.  The great thing is that the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ can utilize the heat collected while providing comfort cooling to heat potable water, a swimming pool, wash water, or process water.  In this case, one of the activities essentially becomes free since the same kWh is used to do both useful cooling and useful heating.

In a case where the water heating demand is less than the amount of comfort cooling, the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ is equipped with the ability to tie into an external air cooled condenser to waste the heat to the outdoors just like a conventional air conditioner or an air-to-air heat pump.

 

 

 

 
Can a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ be the only source of heat that I will ever need for my house or business?

For applications like home heating, a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ will typically require a backup heating system for cold weather. 

Since the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ is powered by electricity; it often qualifies for all electric rates from utilities.  Thus in many cases at all electric rates resistant electric backup heating can be used at approximately the same cost per Btu of useful heating as if generated from a fossil fuel fired system. 

You will have to compare the local cost of fossil fuel to the local cost of electricity to determine if resistant electric backup heat is cost competitive with fossil fuel backup heat.

What’s more, we have found that natural gas, electric resistant, or propane heating systems are generally significantly oversized to ensure that they can handle the extremes.  By utilizing a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ (with its energy storage capability as the base load heating capacity with a fossil or resistant electric backup) we can provide useful space heating at temperatures below 20F -- where most air-to-air heat pumps will fail to provide adequate heating.

 

 

 

 

What is the amperage draw of a typical R.A.S.E.R.S System™?

To-date most R.A.S.E.R.S System™ installations are rated at 5 tons of cooling capacity (nominally 61,000 Btu/hr cooling and 75,000 Btu/hr heating). 

A 5 ton system operating on a 220 volt supply will draw between 25 and 32 amps depending on the number of peripheral pumps and fans that may be used for a given operating mode.

Large and smaller R.A.S.E.R.S System™ units will have different power requirements.   

 

 

 

 

What is the efficiency of the unit?

Most vapor compression heating and cooling systems are rated according to the Coefficient of Performance (COP) and Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) or Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER). 

The COP is the amount of energy output divided by the amount of energy input (useful heat out/electricity used).  When operating at nominal capacity and considering all of the electricity used by the compressor, pumps, fans, and controls, the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ will have a COP in the range of 3.14 to 3.66. 

In installations where pump and fan power can be minimized, the COP will approach or exceed 4.0. 

In applications where the environmental conditions will vary from design, the performance of the system will vary and can at times be less than the nominal capacity. 

The SEER and EER are measures of the efficiency of cooling in cooling mode.  The formulas for EER and SEER do not consider the potential that when in cooling mode the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ may also be providing useful heating.  Though the EER and SEER have not been formally measured, when simply considering the conventional definition and current compressor selection the SEER  will be near or greater than the 13 Btu/watt-hour minimum standard set by the federal government.  In the future, the base system will be equipped with a more efficient compressor which will improve the energy efficiency ratios proportionately.

While COP is useful for commercial, agricultural, and industrial applications, the SEER and EER are not especially useful since the objective in these applications is to operate the system to the greatest extent possible to drive down the payback period.  In many commercial, agricultural and industrial applications useful cooling and useful heating can be combined which has the effect of almost halving the operating cost.

 

 

 

 

How does a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ displace fossil fuel if the electricity it uses is generated from fossil fuel fired power plants?

Today, the percentage of renewable energy is increasing across the world as wind, geothermal, solar, ocean wave, and hydroelectric resources are being tapped and generation efficiencies improved.  Thus in general, as the percentage of renewable electricity increases the amount of fossil fuel replaced by renewable sources increases.  This affect is multiplied by the use of a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ both in fossil fuel displaced directly at the point of use and the fossil fuel displaced at the fossil fuel fired power plants.

To clarify this, consider that for each Btu of electricity used in a R.A.S.E.R.S System™, 3 to 4 Btu are expelled as heat and 2 to 3 Btu are collected from the location or process being cooled.  This efficiency in heating mode could also be presented in terms of Btu output per kWh of Input. 

A R.A.S.E.R.S System™ operating at rated capacity will have 10714 to 12500 Btu output / kWh electricity input.  This is the inverse of the net plant heat rate of a power plant which is usually represented as Btu input/kWh output. 

The Energy Information Administration reports that the average net plant heat rate for fossil fuel fired power plants is around 10000 to 10200 Btu/kWh.  Thus the combination of a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ using electricity from a fossil fired power plant to recycle energy can have a positive energy gain. 

For example, a R.A.S.E.R.S System™ operating at 12500 Btu/kWh and a coal fired power plant operating at 10000 Btu/kWh will produce 12500/10000 = 1.25 Btu out / Btu in.  Thus 25% of the energy recycled by the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ is renewable.

Modern combined cycle gas or oil fired power plants are reported to have net plant heat rates in the range of 5800 to 7000 Btu/kWh.  The same R.A.S.E.R.S System™ operating with electricity generated by a modern combined cycle power plant will have potential to produce 12500/5800 = 2.15 Btu out/Btu in. 

This economy of energy utilization must be compared to point-of-use combustion of natural gas, propane, and fuel oil and use of resistant electricity at thermal efficiencies ranging from 70 to 100 percent or at best 1 Btu out/Btu in.   For resistant electric heating, this means that for each Btu of coal fired at 10000 Btu/kWh, the overall thermal efficiency is actually 3413 Btu out/kWh / 10000 Btu in/kWh = 34.13% or for a combined cycle plant 3413/5800 = 58.84%. 

Thus a well designed and maintained R.A.S.E.R.S System™ will reduce fossil fuel use by displacing it at the point of use and also through synergies with the economy of scale of fossil fired power plants. 

Another aspect of R.A.S.E.R.S System™ performance that is difficult to quantify using conventional approaches is when the R.A.S.E.R.S System™ provides both useful cooling and heating with the same kWh of electricity.  It seems to reason that the overall value or efficiency could almost be doubled since we are gaining two benefits for the price of one.

 

 

 

 

Why R.A.S.E.R.S System™?

R.A.S.E.R.S System™ technology represents a paradigm shift in refrigeration technology.  Waters Hot Inc has pioneered the development of a refrigeration based heating and cooling system that is designed to maximize energy efficiency and return on investment based on displacing fossil fuel and taking advantage of the efficiencies of the vapor compression refrigeration cycle.

The flexibility of the patented R.A.S.E.R.S System™ with inherent energy storage and accommodation of multiple evaporators and condensers combined with refrigeration system operation control that is inherent to the design, uniquely positions R.A.S.E.R.S System™ technology to provide cost-effective alternative energy and energy efficiency solutions on demand in today’s increasingly competitive market place.

 

 

 

 

  

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* Patent Number 7,040,108 - Patent Pending