UAE's first steam absorption chiller inaugurated at DUBAL

A quest for continuous improvement coupled with a determination to optimise organisation's energy consumption levels has led to Dubai Aluminium achieving another pioneering milestone. On this occasion, the corporation has leveraged a nominal volume of the steam produced by the captive cogeneration and combined cycle DUBAL Power Station to drive the UAE's first-ever absorption chiller using waste heat; and the first such application in a power plant.

Built on the rooftop of DUBAL's Desalination Plant Control Building, the new absorption chiller has assumed the functions formerly fulfilled by the electrically-driven vapour compression air-conditioning chillers used for comfort cooling of the building.

Indeed, Al Awadhi asserts that DUBAL's new absorption chiller has the capacity to reduce the corporation's energy consumption by approximately 626,800 kWh per year. Based on the standard conversion factor, this equates to a reduction in CO2 generation by about 350 tonnes per year, also equivalent to an estimated 180 cars off the road per year. "Installing this first absorption chiller was a pilot project, targeted at demonstrating the concept's ability to save energy and protect the environment," continues Al Awadhi. "The concept can also be used for other applications where energy-efficient cooling is required - such as equipment cooling."

DUBAL's absorption chiller was officially inaugurated by Abdulla Kalban (President and CEO) during a special ceremony on 27 March 2013, attended by selected guests from the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, of which DUBAL is a member. Commenting on the project, Kalban says, "This absorption chiller is expected to reduce the auxiliary power consumption of the DUBAL plant, thus offering broader economic and environmental benefits to the business. It will also add real value by using readily available steam from our Power and Desalination Plants without compromising the processes of either."

Al Awadhi adds that the absorption chiller project is a great example of DUBAL's on-going focus on energy-savings, which has seen the corporation invest approximately AED 457 million on energy-efficiency projects since 2005. "We are strongly committed to the cause," he says. "As a member of the DSCE, DUBAL has whole-heartedly adopted the directives issued by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum (President of Dubai Civil Aviation, Chairman of Emirates Airline Group, and Chairman of DSCE) to all DSCE member companies in April 2011 regarding the measures which the Dubai Government is taking to minimize energy consumption in Dubai, in fulfilment of the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy ("DIES") 2030. DUBAL's efforts in this area saved approximately 17,375,000 kWh over the first twenty-one months of implementing the directives, that is, until December 2012. This means that we are well on the way towards DUBAL's overall target to achieve energy-savings of approximately 22,000,000 kWh per year by the end of 2013."