Energy savings in indoor swimming-pools: comparison between different heat-recovery systems

In indoor swimming-pool facilities, the energy demand is large due to ventilation losses with the exhaust air. Since water is evaporated from the pool surface, the exhaust air has a high water content and specific enthalpy. Because of the low temperature, the heat from the evaporation is difficult to recover. In this paper, the energy demand for the conventional ventilation technique in indoor swimming pools is compared to two different heat-recovery techniques, the mechanical heat pump and the open absorption system. The mechanical heat-pump is the most widely used technique in Sweden today. The open absorption system is a new technique in this application. Calculations have been carried out on an hourly basis for the different techniques. Measurements from an absorption system pilot-plant installed in an indoor swimming pool in the northern part of Sweden have been used in the calculations. The results show that with the mechanical heat pump, the electrical input increases by 63 MWh/year and with the open absorption system 57 MWh/year. However, a mechanical heat-pump and an open absorption system decrease, the annual energy demand from 611 to 528 and 484 MWh respectively, which correspond to decreases of approximately 14 and 20% respectively. The electricity input will increase when using heat-recovery techniques. Changing the climate in the facility has also been investigated. An increased temperature decreases the energy demand when using the conventional ventilation technique. However, when either the mechanical heat-pump or the open absorption system is used, the energy demand is increased when the temperature is increased. Therefore increasing the temperature in the facility when using the conventional technique should be considered the first measure to reduce the energy demand.