Gold’n Plump Heat Pump

~Received the AGC2010 Build Wisconsin Award

Gold’n Plump Poultry was seeking ways to conserve energy at their manufacturing facilities.  They were particularly concerned about the 1,000,000 gallons of 140 °F hot water they use per day during production and sanitation. A review of the Arcadia, WI facility led Rohde Brothers to propose a custom designed and built heat pump to recover waste heat generated by the ammonia cooling system and to use this waste heat to partially heat Gold’n Plump’s hot water.  Our custom designed heat pumps not only are 7-8 times larger than what is normally available commercially, but also are designed to work directly with the ammonia refrigeration system, increasing efficiency by another 20%.

The ammonia cooling system is always operating which creates a perfect scenario to recover heat.  The waste heat recovered is being utilized in another refrigeration system which is being used to heat incoming city water.  The concept used is based on the use of a heat pump.  Rohde Brothers knew the importance of this project, and worked closely with Gold’n Plump personally to integrate the new system with minimal disturbance to the existing facility and processes taking place.  Rohde Brothers was proud to be part of this project that performed as follows:

• Heat Recovered from the Ammonia system at a rate of 4,800,000 BTU / Hr
  A typical house furnace is 50,000 BTU / hour
• $178,000 a year in energy savings by reclaiming the waste heat
• 1.7 year payback on the project after the Wisconsin Focus on Energy Contribution.