Europe's Largest Rooftop Heating Plant.

A description is given of a rooftop heating plant serving a group of five buildings constituting a combination residential and shopping center in the heart of the city of Linz, Austria. The heating plant is located on the roof of the tallest of these buildings (22 stories high) at a height of 70 meters. In order to protect the environment, it was decided from the very beginning to use only natural gas for heating and hot water preparation for the apartments and for air conditioning of the business premises. The heating room has an area of about 215 m**2. The entire power output of 6512 kW (5. 6 Gcal/hr) is generated by 17 heating cells divided into three groups of three and four groups of two. To achieve maximum efficiency, heating cells can be switched on or off, depending on the quantity of heat required. Gas heating boilers with atmospheric burners are used to avoid noise and vibrations in the heat generators.