A role in the hay for Carrier Aquaforce
8th November 2021
UK: A Leicestershire farming company has installed three Carrier AquaForce ground-source heat pumps, totalling 8MW, in two projects on the farm to increase the quality of hay production.
Welland Farm was inspired by a previous project carried out by OMNI Heat and Power Ltd in which the renewable energy specialist selected Carrier ground-source heat pumps to provide a controlled environment for drying premium quality hay for racehorses.
Pointing out that the AquaForce heat pumps can achieve a COP of 5.24, OMNI Heat and Power director Bradley Martin said: “Due to their higher capacity, the Carrier solution required just three heat pumps based on a total of six compressors. This simplifies maintenance and significantly reduces servicing costs for the end user over the lifetime of the equipment.”
The systems use an array of pipes buried in trenches for gathering energy from the ground, each with a total pipe length of some 24km. Once the heat pumps have upgraded the energy collected, it is transferred to air handling units serving the crop drying rooms.
“The quicker and more effectively hay can be dried, the greater the yield, and the greater the return for the producer,” said Bradley Martin. “Traditional methods following harvesting involve leaving bales in the fields to dry naturally, which can result in significant losses due to spoilage in wet conditions. Bringing the crop inside and drying it in a controlled environment results in higher quality and minimises losses.”
Related stories:
Carrier ensures aquifer is not dead heat – 3 October 2021
UK: Two 1.5MW Carrier AquaForce heat pumps, tapped into an underground aquifer, are being used to dry a premium horse feed much in demand by UK racehorse breeders and trainers. Read more…
