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ritter & bader cooling systems
YOUR PARTNER FOR INDUSTRIAL COOLING
ritter & bader GmbH is a family business founded in 1991. At our location in Weissenhorn we develop and manufacture products to cool processes and air-condition switch cabinets.
From individual items to serial products, we offer our customers a wide array of innovative, tailor-made solutions. Our close cooperation with our customers and our direct decision-making makes this easier. Lots of well-known companies collaborate with our development department on solutions to keep them successful in international markets.
Our expert service department will be at your side the whole way to find quick and efficient solutions to whatever problems you may encounter.
ritter & bader cooling systems
THE HISTORY OF OUR COMPANY
2000
Buildings rented out at the former military site in Weissenhorn to start our own production facility.
2009
The space rented out is purchased along with a further 10,000m2.
2017
The new assembly hall (1,000m2) is put into operation.
2018
A 40 kW solar plant is built.
2022
Franz Ritter becomes an advisor and hands the management of the company over to the next generation, Ms Angela Ritter and Mr Tobias Ritter.
After the restoration of the roof, 600m2 of its south-facing surfaces were fitted with a solar plant that can generate up to 60,000 W of power. The plant’s inverters are air-conditioned with a cooling system that we installed ourselves to guarantee uniform efficiency at high temperatures as well as a long service life for the inverters.
When there is enough sunlight, the power produced is enough for all the company’s needs. The red line indicates the daily power requirement and the yellow area shows the amount of power produced by the solar plant. In 2012 the plant produced 72,275 kWh of power, while our purchase was 57,363 kWh. Since 2006 our oil boilers have been gradually replaced by combined heat and power (CHP) boilers. Our CHP units are powered by oil and gas, and produce electricity as well as heat.
As of December 2013 we have been operating six CHP units, which between them produce up to 60,000 W of heat as well as 30,000 W of power. The facilities are decentralized, meaning that energy is produced where it is needed. Four of our CHP units are powered by oil and two by gas. meaning we can react to fluctuations in the price of either oil or gas. If the gas price rises, for example, we prioritize our oil-powered CHP units.
Our company currently constructs approximately 6000 cooling devices each year, of which the function and performance of around 3000 devices have to be checked. This is done at our testing facility using warm water produced by our CHP units. The power required to operate the testing facility also comes from the CHP units. At night and on weekends, the surplus power from the CHP units is fed into the public power supply.
We purchased an ice storage unit in 2013 in order to be able to better put this surplus to use. The cost saving from using this ice storage unit comes from the fact that the compression cooling machine—intended to cover the peak load—does not run during the peak-tariff period. Instead, the required cold temperature is provided by the ice storage unit during this time.
During the night the cooling machine is powered using CHP energy, and the ice storage unit is topped up for the following day.
Alongside this advantage thanks to the cost-effective CHP energy, there is also a thermodynamic bonus:
The lower outdoor temperature means that the cooling machine operates more economically during the night. Since cold spikes are intercepted by the ice storage unit, the cooling machine can also be made smaller. The ice storage unit is the opposite of a warm-water storage unit and provides the cooling necessary for the testing facilities and the climate chamber. Employees’ workspaces are also air-conditioned in the summer.
We also purchased three electric cars for short-distance journeys and transport around the town, so trips to the post office, the bank, and the customs office can all be made with zero harmful emissions. The vehicle is charged up overnight, and visitors with electric cars can also charge their vehicle during their visit. In 2013 our CHP units produced 71,000 kWh of energy for our own use and to feed into the public power supply.
As our company continues to grow and our energy needs grow with it, in fall 2012 we decided to purchase a wind turbine to provide a base load of up to 10,000 W.
Once the new assembly hall was completed, in 2018 we also launched a photovoltaic plant with an output of up to 40 kW that stores solar energy in large water tanks and heats our testing facilities.
Summary:
In 2013 our CHP units produced approximately 71,000 kWh of power, which with a purchase price of around €0.19/kWh net takes a burden of around €13,490 off our power budget each year. At a cost of around €18,000 per CHP unit, each new plant pays for itself every 16 months. This is supplemented by reimbursements on fuel tax and savings on maintenance for the chimney as the chimney is no longer necessary. Foreseeable increases in the price of energy, oil and gas will make these facilities even more economical in years to come. There are special funding programs and leasing offers to help finance CHP units.
Using our CHP units saves approximately 40,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions per year.
Our energy needs have doubled since 2008 but, thanks to purchasing our CHP units, we have still been able to reduce our oil consumption from 40,000 liters per year to 19,500 liters per year at present, plus approximately 10,000 liters of liquid gas. With a heat value of 1.30 liters of propane gas per liter of oil, this works out at a heat value of approximately 7,700 liters of oil. In oil terms, that makes for a total consumption of approximately 27,200 liters.
Our solar plant has been operational since the end of 2009 and produces between 60,000 and 70,000 kWh of power per year, which means that we have avoided a total of 1,200 tons of CO2 emissions since 2010.
Since it is run on power we produce ourselves, our electric car saves 1,500 liters of fuel per year.
A total of 130,000 kWh of power is produced per year, approximately 70,000 kWh thanks to the CHP units and 60,000 kWh more from the solar plant. At present our total requirement is approximately 100,000 kWh.
Since the solar plant became operational in 2018 we have been able to store 45 MWh of heat and direct this to our test facilities, reducing our consumption of oil as well as liquid gas.
ritter & bader GmbH currently employs 40 people. Between them they generated €11,000,000 in turnover in 2018.