ExtraHeat recovers wasted dairy farm energy! (From Smallholder)

ExtraHeat recovers wasted dairy farm energy!

4:40pm Saturday 4th July 2009 in

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ExtraHeat, a new system from GEA Farm Technologies is proven to save wasted energy on dairy farms.

The natural temperature of milk taken direct from a cow is between 320C -340C which needs to be refrigerated to 30C - 40C.

Bulk tank refrigeration works by extracting calories from the milk via a compressor unit which then vents the extracted energy to the atmosphere as wasted heat.

With bulk milk tanks on dairy farms of anything up to 30,000 litres each and in a number of cases more than one tank per farm, the amount of energy extracted and then wasted is considerable!

The ExtraHeat system recovers some of this energy and uses it to pre-heat the water that is needed to wash through the milking parlour equipment after use, where best practice dictates washing with hot water two times per day.

Ambient tap water temperatures are usually between 140C - 200C and bore hole water can be as low as 90C depending on the time of year. The ExtraHeat system can increase the temperature up to 500C- 600C, thereby reducing electricity bills by as much as 50%, recovering wasted energy and at the same time helping the environment.

The simple installation is fitted between the compressor and a heat recovery holding tank, prior to being fed into an installed water heater.

Cost savings will vary according to prevailing energy prices and individual consumption profiles but the company estimates that each system will pay for itself within 3-4 years.

This latest innovation is part of a programme of new technologies being introduced by GEA Farm Technologies, already well known and respected for its WestfaliaSurge™ range of dairy parlour systems and Houle™ range of slurry handling and farm equipment.