WSHP and Cooler / Freezer Heat Recovery

[ME27272727]

Is there anything wrong with putting water cooled freezer / cooler condensing units on a water source heat pump loop for heat recovery? I see the benefit of "free" heat in the winter, and better compressor efficiency in the summer with evaporative cooling vs air cooled condensers. I've never seen this done and there's nothing on the google, it just seems like a match made in heaven. What am I missing?

 

[EnergyProfessional]

Nothing wrong, but you should make sure the manufacturer designed for the fluid temperatures and type. and obviously this adds load to the field, so it needs to be sized larger.

FWIW, our buildings have regular HVAC energy recovery chillers on geo-thermal and they work at the very extremes of what they are approved. IMHO, this isn't great for longevity. Once the geothermal field is a bit too cold, they stop (this is heating....). I really recommend using equipment that is designed for geothermal.

Probably less of an issue for cooling since geothermal has lower temps than air-cooled water. But you also could require higher fluid temps than you get from geothermal. They have a minimum lift. So it can be done, but it isn't just a plug & play.

 

[MintJulep]

How big are the freezers? Is there really enough heat available to make it worthwhile?