CO2 Heat Pumps

All heat pumps and cooling systems (chillers) use a working fluid (refrigerant). Most heat pumps and chillers use synthetic refrigerants that either contribute to global warming or contain substantial amounts of PFAS, which are considered a serious health hazard. A CO₂ Heat Pump or chiller is a unit that uses carbon dioxide (CO₂) as its working fluid, which does not contribute to global warming or the release of chemicals.

R744 (CO₂) is recycled from various industrial processes and does not contribute to the release of new CO₂ into the atmosphere and is therefore not contributing to global warming or release of chemicals. It is said that CO₂ has a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 1. One could argue that CO₂ as a refrigerant actually has a GWP of 0, as it removes CO₂ from the atmosphere when a CO₂ system is filled. However, since the gas is eventually released back into the atmosphere at some point in the future, we have chosen to use the conservative figure: GWP=1.

In the most applications, a good CO₂ heat pump is in a class of its own. The reason for this is that it can heat liquid to much higher temperatures than other refrigerants can. This increases energy efficiency, as other heat pumps need assistance from a fossil or electric heat source to heat the liquid all the way to the desired temperature. If you utilize this advantage on both the cold and hot side of the heat pump, for example, you can get free domestic hot water at a hotel in the summer when delivering cold water for comfort cooling. In such cases, you can achieve a COP (Coefficient of Performance) as high as 8-9. This means that for every kW of electricity used, you get 8-9 kW out.

You can be creative. Our products are extremely flexible and can be used for both heating and cooling at the same time. The heat pumps and chillers cover a heating and/or cooling requirement from 17kW (1*TCHP17) up to 804kW (3*TCHP268). Typical projects where our units are delivered include hotels, office buildings, residential complexes, swimming pools, and for industrial cooling needs such as data centers, food production, etc.

Traditional CO₂ heat pumps are demanding to install and require a very high level of competence and experience. You must be able to lay high-pressure gas pipes and have experience with the commissioning of complex systems. A heat pump from Tequs is plug and play. You only need plumbing expertise as it only needs to be connected with liquid and electricity

Traditionally, CO₂ heat pumps have been less efficient at high return temperatures. Our heat pumps use ejector technology that utilizes the high pressure and temperature to maintain efficiency. This means that our heat pumps are not only more efficient than traditional heat pumps, but they are also very suitable for high-temperature systems.

By using an ejector, the heat pump alone can handle a return temperature of 42°C. In combination with our hydronic kit, it can handle return temperatures up to 60°C.