Dongqi reports more than 700 CO₂ heat pumps in China 

Kunming Dongqi Technology Co., Ltd. (KDT) is a domestic Chinese manufacturer and supplier of CO₂ heat pumps based in Kunming, China, located in Yunnan province in the southwest region of the country.

The company has been actively pursuing research & development and sales of this technology since it was established in 2009.

As of the end of 2017, the company says it has more than 700 units installed that provide hot water and central heating to hotels, universities, hospitals, offices, and other businesses throughout the entire country.

This website spoke with Peijian Du, chairman of KDT, who sees large potential for CO₂ heat pumps in China due to increasingly strict environmental regulations phasing out the use of fossil fuel boilers and HFC gases in the country.

He also detailed the economic benefits that some of his end users are seeing with the superior efficiency of CO₂ heat pumps.

CO₂ heat pumps replace traditional boilers in China

In 2016, a four-star, foreign-based hotel chain in Yunnan province replaced its two original gas boilers with two sets of KDT's CO₂ heat pump hot water units.

"Since the renovation, the energy consumption cost has dropped drastically," said Du.

"The average daily energy consumption cost has dropped from the original 3,525 Chinese Yuan (around €445) to 564 Chinese Yuan (around €71), and the energy saving ratio has reached 84%. The annual energy saving amount is about 1.1 million Chinese Yuan (around €138,927), and the unit's water temperature and water output are both stable."

In another example from October 2016, a centralised heating project for a railway power station in Dalian, China was completed and put into operation, where nine sets of KDT's CO₂ heat pump replaced the originally existing oil-fired boiler system.

"The average temperature of the heating season is around -5 to -8°C, and the extreme minimum temperature is about -25°C," said Du.

"The project has been running stably for two heating seasons."

Du said that according to its data monitoring, "the heating power consumption is about 0.39 kWh (m²/day), and the energy saving rate is 80% compared with the original oil-fired boiler system."

Finally, Du provided details for a University in Shanghai that installed four CO₂ heat pumps along side a solar energy system. The heat pumps provided 24-hour domestic hot water for four student apartments. The date of the installation was not specified.

"The total area of the apartment building is 17,099 m², and the number of students is 1,008," said Du.

"The maximum daily hot water required for each person is 70L per person, so the maximum daily supply of hot water is 70,000L."

"Through a third-party testing agency, the energy efficiency of the CO₂ heat pumps were [a COP of] 4.1 when outdoor ambient temperatures were 15.2°C and the relative humidity is 67.3%. Compared to electric water heaters, the power saving rate is as high as 90.1%. Compared with gas water heaters, the energy saving rate is up to 87.3%."