Millions of existing build­ings still meet their heating needs using oil or gas. So there is much to be done to ensure a successful tran­si­tion away from fossil fuels. However, indus­trial and office build­ings, hospi­tals, hotels, and larger resi­den­tial complexes are consid­ered partic­u­larly chal­lenging candi­dates for switching from fossil fuel heating systems to more sustain­able solu­tions like heat pumps. This is because the low flow temper­a­tures of conven­tional heat pumps require exten­sive reno­va­tion work: radi­a­tors would have to be removed, under­floor heating installed, and piping replaced.

Luigi Buttiglione wants to change this: “Heat pumps are among the most effec­tive tech­nolo­gies for decar­bonizing the heating sector.” For this reason, a team of experts with decades of expe­ri­ence in the fields of HVAC and refrig­er­a­tion tech­nology founded Dether­mina in 2023. Head­quar­tered in Naples, Italy, the company aims to imple­ment the energy tran­si­tion in the heating sector rapidly, easily, safely, and cost-effec­tively. 

The solu­tion: high-temper­a­ture heat pumps

In a very short time, the young company has carved out a niche in the heating market for complex existing build­ings. “Our port­folio includes air-to-water heat pumps with capac­i­ties ranging from 30 to 300 kilo­watts that deliver high water temper­a­tures even at low outdoor temper­a­tures,” explains Buttiglione. To achieve this, Dether­mina relies on the natural refrig­erant R290, also known as propane. “In addi­tion to its extremely low global warming poten­tial, propane offers excel­lent ther­mo­dy­namic prop­er­ties and enables the devel­op­ment of highly effi­cient heat pumps,” says Buttiglione. Dethermina’s units can reli­ably deliver water at 80 degrees Celsius even when outdoor temper­a­tures drop to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. This makes it possible to replace oil or gas heating systems without the need for exten­sive reno­va­tion work. 

Three compo­nents for less noise and greater effi­ciency

However, the natural refrig­erant is not solely respon­sible for this success. Another key factor is the fans, which draw air effi­ciently into the system for heat recovery. More­over, they are a crit­ical compo­nent, as they are largely respon­sible for the unit’s noise levels. Buttiglione wanted a solu­tion that met several require­ments at once: high aero­dy­namic effi­ciency, low noise levels, long-term reli­a­bility, easy inte­gra­tion, and consis­tent performance—even under diffi­cult climatic condi­tions. So, he didn’t have to think long about who the right partner for this would be. The answer was obvious: ebm-papst. “We rely on compo­nents from leading brands, as high reli­a­bility is very impor­tant to us.” In addi­tion, he had known his contact, Carlo Paroni, Team Leader for Air Condi­tioning & Venti­lation at ebm-papst Italy, for many years.

Paroni had an imme­diate solu­tion: a combi­na­tion of the HyBlade axial fan in size 800, the AxiTop diffuser, and the flow-opti­mized Flow­Grid inlet grille. Buttiglione summa­rizes the advan­tages of this three-part combi­na­tion as follows: “With the fan alone, such an effi­cient and at the same time low-noise solu­tion would not have been possible. HyBlade ensures high effi­ciency, AxiTop opti­mizes the flow condi­tions, and Flow­Grid reduces turbu­lence and the asso­ci­ated noise.”

Expressed in numbers, the combi­na­tion of these three compo­nents reduces the sound pres­sure level of the 50-kilo­watt units by more than 3 dB(A). At the same time, each fan achieves an airflow rate of 22,500 m³/h. This allows the units to make the best possible use of the ambient temper­a­ture for heat recovery without disturbing the surround­ings with exces­sive noise. Depending on the heat pump’s perfor­mance class, Dether­mina uses up to six fans. 

About 100 Dether­mina units are currently in use, but Buttiglione wants to expand the company further: “Our focus is currently on the Italian market. However, our goal is to grad­u­ally expand our pres­ence in other Euro­pean markets.” It is clear to him that ebm-papst’s solu­tions will continue to play a role in this: “We view ebm-papst as a strategic tech­nology partner and intend to continue our collab­o­ra­tion on the devel­op­ment of future gener­a­tions of heat pumps.” Tests are already underway with the highly effi­cient AxiBlade.Perform fan, which is now avail­able in the size required by Dether­mina. 

They are already in use here

Thanks to the R290 refrig­erant, Dethermina’s high-temper­a­ture heat pumps can achieve high flow temper­a­tures. This makes them ideally suited for the retro­fitting of existing build­ings.