Panniqtuuq (Aug 25/03) - Two communities combined to save an estimated 480,000 litres of fuel last year by recovering lost heat.

That has the Qulliq Energy Corporation investigating in expanding on the technology used in those two communities, Arviat and Panniqtuuq, to other communities.

The technology is a system that recovers heat generally lost during the process of making electricity.

Electricity is currently produced by burning diesel fuel in Nunavut.

"Approximately one-third of the energy is converted to electricity.

"The remaining two-thirds is lost in the form of heat, either through the engine cooling system or through exhaust gases emitted into the environment," said Lee Douglas, senior technical advisor with the Qulliq Energy Corporation.

But in Arviat and Panniqtuuq, along with six other communities, some of the heat is recovered and used to heat nearby buildings.

Arviat and Panniqtuuq have the most recent heat recovery systems in place (1991 and 1998 respectively) and the success of the two has the Qulliq Corporation looking at expanding on existing ones and creating new ones.

"We are looking to expand in Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet. We are also looking at possible systems in Baker Lake, Cape Dorset and Iqaluit," said Douglas.

Savings are twofold

Kugluktuk, Taloyoak, Sanikiluaq and Kugaaruk also have similar systems.

"There is a twofold benefit (to heat recovery). Number one is in the conservation of energy.

"In the production of electricity we recover some of the heat that is useful. At the same time customers will be participating in purchasing this heat," said Douglas.

And that translates into not having to burn additional heating fuel.

"Customers save on heating fuel and that has tremendous benefits to environment in terms of fossil fuel burning," said Douglas.

The current system uses heat exchangers to transmit heat to fluid in a system of pipes, said Douglas.

The fluid is a mixture of water and antifreeze.

"We transmit heat from the diesel engine, a high temperature system, to the pipes, a low temperature system," said Douglas.

The fluid is then transported to nearby buildings, where the heat is transmitted to the heating system there. The cooled fluid is then brought back to the diesel engines and the process continues.

While heat recovery is a proven system, the generator has to be close enough to town and large buildings to make it viable.

"It wouldn't be economically feasible if we needed a long network of pipes," said Douglas.

And that's why Panniqtuuq and Arviat have been successful.

In Panniqtuuq, the system heats both schools year round.

In Arviat, four large buildings use the system.