The SRU, the RPC and Novacab TESS have been running in the field for years, at real industrial sites, under other people's names. Sidel CREN brings those proven technologies together as one platform. Here's where they've already done the work.
Dr. Stephane Bilodeau's first large-scale phase-change thermal storage project ran at IBM's 800,000-square-foot semiconductor plant in Bromont, Quebec — replacing aging R-12 chillers with a 1,500-ton VFD chiller paired with two PCM thermal-storage tanks that bank latent heat instead of losing it. Published in ASHRAE Journal as "TES Without Ice" (July 2007), the project won the 2007 ASHRAE Technology Award and became the technical foundation for what Novacab TESS is today.
It became the reference project behind everything that followed: roughly 400 Novacab TESS units are now installed across hospitals, high-rises, colleges and government facilities in Canada, all descended from what was proven at Bromont.
5,300 MWh/year in energy savings (about 6% annually), more than 1 MW of peak demand cut, a 45% improvement in chilled-water production efficiency, and natural free-cooling extended from 3 months a year to 9 — alongside a 50% cut in refrigerant use and a 45% reduction in GHG emissions from chilled-water production. Natural Resources Canada and Hydro-Québec co-funded it as a demonstration project. Source: ASHRAE Journal, July 2007, "TES Without Ice," Daniel Pare (IBM Canada) and Dr. Stephane Bilodeau.
A leading sugar producer in Maharashtra installed the first Rotary Particulate Collector on a 75 TPH bagasse-fired cogeneration boiler, as fourth-stage pollution control. The RPC was designed by its inventor, Parthosarathy Mukherji, of alliance partner SAI-DEL / Sidel Systems India.
Particulate emissions at the stack fell from 150 to 32 mg/Nm³ with a single RPC. Sugar industry engineers who reviewed the installation reported excellent performance and a visibly clear chimney. Sugar mills are one of Sidel CREN's core target industries.
These results come from letters the clients wrote to Sidel Systems USA, published on its success stories page. We've summarized them here. The SRU flue gas condenser is the same unit at the heart of the Sidel CREN platform's heat recovery stage.
Growers Transplanting's Kevin Doyle described himself as a skeptic of fuel-savings claims. When the company replaced a 400 HP boiler, it added a Sidel SRU condenser to the job anyway.
The extra efficiency let the site stop running two 3.3 million Btu/hr boilers. The company then added a second condenser at another facility and a third, an SRU 50, the following year.
Coast Nurseries was heating with nine smaller boilers. Sidel Systems replaced them with a single 350 HP fire-tube boiler paired with an SRU flue gas condenser.
Jim Steger of Coast Nurseries reports the boiler now runs at well over 90% efficiency, with natural gas bills greatly reduced. Southern California Gas provided rebates for the high-efficiency equipment.
In 1986 Pelton Reforestation installed a 500 HP boiler with a matching Sidel flue gas condenser to heat a 135,000 sq. ft. greenhouse. Within three years the same system served 375,000 sq. ft.
By the owner's account, the condenser lets them heat 20% of the growing area for essentially no cost, and has paid for itself many times over. After 18 years the carbon-steel lower section was replaced in-house in a few days. The stainless-steel water side was still in perfect condition.
In 1993 Sidel Systems installed a 350 HP boiler with an SRU stack condenser at Smith Gardens, piped to make full use of the recovered heat.
The condenser supplies floor heating for an entire 26,000 sq. ft. growing zone. The facilities manager reports the boiler needs yearly service, but the condenser needs none.
Mission Linen Supply installed its first SRU in July 2006 on a heavily loaded laundry boiler and direct-fired heater.
Energy savings came in as estimated. Two benefits were unexpected: lower boiler chemical costs, and a direct-fired heater that went from running constantly at high fire to mostly low fire, freeing capacity without new equipment. Mission Linen went on to order units for more locations, and Sidel Systems lists four more of its California plants as clients.
The District of Columbia Housing Authority installed its first SRU in 2009. After seeing the energy savings, it ordered nine more for its high-rise buildings in 2010.
With no moving parts to wear out and minimal maintenance, the authority projected the units would pay for themselves in 4 to 5 years, and invited other housing authorities to tour them.
A partial list of organizations Sidel Systems USA names as SRU clients, including the food, dairy and chemical plants that match Sidel CREN's target industries. See Sidel Systems' full client list.
Sidel CREN did not exist when these projects ran. The SRU, the RPC and Novacab TESS were deployed independently by Sidel Systems USA, SAI-DEL / Sidel Systems India and Smart Phases Inc., the alliance partners whose technologies now make up the Sidel CREN platform. They're included here as the real-world proof behind the platform, not as projects Sidel CREN itself delivered. Results at any new site are confirmed with a metered baseline first. How a project starts.