СOMPANY MITSUBISHI RECEIVED AN AWARD FROM THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT OF JAPAN

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems (MHI Thermal Systems) has received the 2021 Minister of the Environment for Climate Action Award sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment for its Q-ton Circulation, an air-to-water (ATW) heat pump jointly developed with Chubu Electric Power. The award was given in the Technological Development and Commercialization category in recognition of the development and promotion of an air-source heat pump (ASHP) using a refrigerant with a low global warming potential (GWP).

This is the fourth major award following similar accolades from the Japan Society of Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (JSRAE), the Japan Association of Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Contractors (JARAC) and Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun.

The Q-ton Circulation is a heat pump used to produce sanitary hot water for use at hotels, spas and other bathing venues, and for circulation in production processes at machinery plants. The adoption of R454C refrigerant featuring a GWP of 146 contributes significantly to reducing the environmental impact. The Q-ton Circulation also adopts a two-stage compression refrigeration cycle featuring a proprietary high-efficiency 3D scroll compressor; this ensures outstanding energy efficiency, a coefficient of performance (COP) of 3.3 and enables robust reductions in carbon emissions. Other advantages include 67% lower running costs and 52% lower energy consumption compared with a gas boiler. All told, the replacement of existing boilers and electric heaters with the Q-ton Circulation can be expected to cut carbon emissions by wide margins.