Development of the world's first hydrogen-fueled absorption chiller-heaters

In response to the global trend of expanding hydrogen markets, Ebara Corporation and its group company, Ebara Refrigeration & Cooling Systems Co., Ltd., have developed the world's first hydrogen-fueled absorption chiller-heater.

As efforts toward a sustainable global environment using clean energy are essential to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, hydrogen is attracting attention as a next-generation energy source. We are working on the development of various products and technologies to contribute to the creation of a supply chain that "produces, transports, and uses" hydrogen.

Absorption chiller-heaters are heat source machines used to provide comfortable air-conditioned spaces in office buildings, factories, airports, commercial facilities, district heating and cooling facilities, and other locations. Conventional absorption chiller-heaters use city gas or kerosene as fuel, but the newly developed product uses hydrogen as fuel, and can be used without emitting the CO₂ that accompanies fuel combustion. When compared to conventional fuels, it can reduce annual CO₂ emissions by 95% compared to kerosene and 94% compared to city gas. Another feature of this system is that it can "use" hydrogen by burning it directly, without converting it into power or electricity.

In this development, when replacing the fuel with hydrogen, it was necessary to change the design to suit the characteristics of hydrogen. Hydrogen burns faster and has a wider range of combustion than city gas, so safety in particular is important when designing. In addition to safety devices for city gas, the hydrogen plant is designed to be safe by being equipped with a backfire prevention device as standard, and by adding a function to inject inert gas to prevent the gas pipes from becoming filled with a flammable mixture of hydrogen and air when the plant is shut down. Hydrogen also has a high flame temperature, which tends to increase the concentration of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the exhaust gas, but we have developed a low-NOx burner for hydrogen that incorporates low-NOx technology, achieving low NOx levels equivalent to those produced when burning city gas in all combustion ranges.

The hydrogen-fired absorption chiller-heater comes standard with a variety of energy-saving technologies, such as variable flow control for cooling water and hot and cold water, an energy-saving operation mode, and control to shorten start-up time, which are installed in our latest models. This not only reduces CO₂ emissions by using hydrogen, but also leads to a reduction in energy consumption. Hydrogen-fired absorption chiller-heaters do not emit CO2 when burning fuel and use water, a natural refrigerant, making them environmentally friendly and suitable for the carbon-neutral era. Going forward, we will expand our lineup and contribute to the realization of the coming hydrogen society by providing products that directly "use" hydrogen energy.

We will accelerate our efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and contribute to the realization of a sustainable society as outlined in our long-term vision, "E-Vision 2030."

By addressing key ESG issues based on our long-term vision and medium-term management plan, the EBARA Group aims to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and further improve our corporate value.

■For inquiries regarding this matter or business: CP Hydrogen-related Business Project Marketing Strategy and Sales Unitopens in a new tab
■ Interview inquiries: Corporate Planning Department IR/PR Division ebr-pr@ebara.comopens in a new tab

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<sup>The "XXX type" symbols in the text are our model symbols.

References: Ebara's hydrogen business website
Ebara Times Introduction to Ebara's hydrogen technology</sup>