Japan's Gas Water Heaters to Incorporate Full-scale Latent Heat Recovery Systems

The Japan Industrial Association of Gas and Kerosene Appliances and the Japan Gas Energy Promotion Association declared their efforts to promote "Switch to Eco-Jozu by 2013," on June 9, 2010. In an attempt to help achieve a low-carbon society, the companies will switch production of gas water heaters from conventional models to a latent heat recovery model, dubbed "Eco-Jozu," by March 2013.

The Eco-Jozu system recovers and reuses waste heat in exhaust gases, which conventional heaters discharge at a temperature of about 200 degrees Celsius using a secondary heat exchanger. This reduces the waste heat temperature to a range of 50 to 80 degrees Celsius, and thus improves thermal efficiency to 95 percent (vs. 80 percent in conventional systems). It also reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by about 13 percent.

After its release in October 2002, the Eco-Jozu sold 1.586 million units by the end of March 2010 with an estimated annual reduction in CO2 emissions of 350,000 tons. The associations plan to reach total sales of 20 million units by 2020, which would yield an estimated annual reduction in CO2 emissions of about 4.45 million tons.

The "Switch to Eco-Jozu by 2013" campaign will use a specially designed logo, which will be carried on brochures or handouts from manufacturers and distributors to promote Eco-Jozu products among consumers.

Japan Gas Association official website
http://www.gas.or.jp/english/

Posted: 2010/09/26 06:00:15 AM