DÜSSELDORF, Germany, August 21 2023: GEA has announced that it has supplied a heat recovery system to Britvic, a soft drinks manufacturer in the United Kingdom. Making the announcement through a Press release, GEA said the installation would begin in the summer and would result in cutting the factory’s carbon emissions by an estimated 1,200 tons annually, which is equivalent to the annual energy usage of around 500 homes in the UK. 

GEA said it would supply two industrial ammonia heat pumps and a large thermal storage tank to Britvic’s site in Beckton, London. For Britvic, GEA said, the project is a major step towards its goal of reducing direct carbon emissions by 50% by 2025 and achieving net zero by 2050. 

Sarah Webster, Director, Sustainable Business, Britvic, said: “The challenge with this brown-field project was how the improvements support us on our journey to reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions as part of our science-based targets and our Healthier People, Healthier Planet sustainability strategy. Moreover, we are excited to be working with GEA to make our London factory sustainable for the future.”

Matthew Hadwen, Beverage Sales Manager, Liquid & Powder Technologies Division, GEA, said: “Upgrading legacy industrial steam heating systems and integrating these with heat pump technology is a challenge. At GEA, we can supply heat pumps and integrated process heat exchanger skids as one solution. This clearly sets us apart from our competition.”

GEA RedGenium heat pump

Simon Gurr, Sales Manager, Heating & Refrigeration Division, GEA, said: “This project provides us with an opportunity to extend our leading role in industry decarbonisation. GEA’s expertise in both heat pump technology and process integration brings the right solution to Britvic.”

GEA also said that Britvic would convert much of its process heating from natural gas steam boilers to carbon-free heat recovery systems driven by heat pumps. GEA further said the new heat recovery system, will reuse low temperature waste heat from the existing production system, and waste heat, which was previously released into the atmosphere, will now be used to heat hot water to 92°C and willl be distributed throughout the plant. Britvic said this will decarbonise 50% of the site’s heat demand by using less gas in the traditional steam boilers, shifting the heat source away from fossil fuels. A valved connection, Britvic added, is provided for up to 750 kW of heat, which will be recovered in the future from other sources.

GEA said that Britvic would be converting a significant portion of its process heating from natural gas steam boilers to carbon-free heat recovery systems driven by heat pumps. GEA further said the new heat recovery system would repurpose low-temperature waste heat from the existing production system. Previously, GEA added, this waste heat, which was released into the atmosphere, will now be utilised to heat hot water up to 92 degrees C and will be distributed throughout the plant. Britvic said that this action would result in the decarbonisation of 50% of the site’s heat demand by reducing the use of gas in traditional steam boilers and transitioning the heat source away from fossil fuels.