Smart pumping solutions that don’t cost the earth

With energy and fuel prices at record highs, the latest pumps and circulators can help to optimise performance and reduce running costs to boost sustainability, writes Kevin

Devine from Xylem Water Solutions Ireland

It’s well known that HVAC systems are a hungry energy resource, but the most recent technology offers huge increases in energy efficiency to reduce consumption as well as water use. It also helps meet vital goals on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In Ireland, the residential sector has an annual fuel use for heating of 26.3 TWh, representing 18% of Ireland’s total final energy use1. More widely, heating, cooling and domestic hot water account for 80% of the energy that European citizens consume2, making buildings the single largest energy consumer in Europe.

HVAC systems play a major role in that, consuming as much as half of a building’s total energy. But there is an opportunity to optimise systems and provide more reliable

Kevin Devine, Director of Sales, Xylem Water Solutions, Ireland.

ways to tackle soaring costs, reduce energy usage and prepare for a future less dependent on resources.

Energy savings of up to 80% Pump systems are often oversized for the application, meaning they use more energy than needed. The Lowara Smart Pump range offers the right combination of motors, variable speed drives and pumps to ensure reliable performance and maximise savings. The integrated drive matches performance to demand to reduce energy use and enables smart pumps to communicate with other building systems in real time for the most efficient approach.

For residential heating, cooling and domestic water applications, the Lowara ecocirc pump has been carefully engineered to minimise energy use. Studies show that 10–15% of the electricity consumption in domestic households is used by heating circulators, but the ecocirc models feature high-efficiency ECM motors that bring energy savings of up to 80% compared to conventional circulators.

Matching performance to demand

For large-scale commercial applications, the ecocirc XL large wet rotor circulator offers a complete smart and highly-efficient pumping solution for heating, cooling and potable water systems. Its variable speed options allow operators to use energy intelligently and efficiently.

In addition, for automatic control that ensures the right level of operation, the Hydrovar intelligent pump controller matches performance to demand to offer energy savings of up to 70% on partial loads alone. Because it fits any standard IEC motor, it is ideal for retrofitting to upgrade fixedspeed systems.

Going with the flow in Portugal

A key city hospital complex in Lisbon was given an environmental overhaul by Xylem Water Solutions as it expanded to serve a growing population. To cope with fluctuations in demand and provide the greatest amount of uptime with the lowest energy consumption, Xylem worked with a local partner to install ecocirc circulators, e-LNE inline pumps and pressure expansion vessels to serve the hospital’s hot water circuit and work within its solar thermal circuit. Both systems were operated autonomously, guaranteeing the lowest energy consumption of hot water applications in all areas.

Reducing carbon footprint

With Ireland committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030, steps need to be taken to create sustainable water and heating solutions that meet the changing needs of buildings and offer reduced life-cycle costs through energysaving measures.

The resilience offered by the next generation of pumps and circulators can be retrofitted to existing systems, or form the basis of new developments to optimise building systems. This will help save costs … and the planet.

References

1. https://www.seai.ie/publications/Heating-andCooling-in-Ireland-Today.pdf

2. https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energyefficiency/energy-efficient-buildings/energyperformance-buildings-directive_enw