Bitzer launches Varipack frequency inverters

Sindelfingen, Germany, 27 July 2021: Bitzer has added models with IP55 and IP66 enclosure classes to its range of Varipack frequency inverters. Making the announcement through a Press release, the company further said that the additions retain all of the product family’s known properties, such as user-friendliness, reliability and performance.

According to Bitzer, the inverters are designed for safe and easy capacity control and have been specially adapted for refrigeration and for the operation of Bitzer refrigeration compressors. They open up a wide range of applications in supermarkets, hotels and restaurants as well as in food manufacturing and processing, the company said. The inverters, the company added, are suitable for refrigeration and air conditioning systems as well as for heat pumps and can be combined with single compressors and compound systems alike. After intuitive commissioning, the inverters take over the control functions of the refrigeration system, the company said. They can be mounted in a switch cabinet (IP20) or outside of the switch cabinet, thanks to the higher IP55/66 enclosure class, it added.

According to Bitzer, the inverters can be operated in two modes: The compressor’s capacity can either be controlled depending on an externally set signal or on the evaporation temperature with an optionally available pressure control add-on module. In addition to direct control of the evaporation temperature, the speed of the condenser fan can be set via a 0-10 V output signal, and a second compressor can be switched on, the company said. With regard to pressure control, the inverters have a database of all commonly used refrigerants for ease of configuration and monitoring, the company said.

According to Bitzer, its software can be used to select a frequency inverter for specific applications, and BEST software (Bitzer Electronics Service Tool) can be used for easy commissioning and monitoring. The stored databases simply select the compressor model to fully configure every compressor, the company said. BEST software is also the interface for communication to configure, monitor and read out error messages, the company said. The inverters, with the IP55/66 protection class, are also fitted with a display, as standard, which makes it possible to view the current operating conditions and adjust common parameters, the company added.

The inverters ensure that when operating in field-weakening mode, the maximum frequency is automatically limited, depending on the load, the company said. Optimised adjustment to suit the system’s current cooling demand, the company added, reduces energy consumption, increases efficiency and lowers running costs.

Bitzer has a new CEO

SINDELFINGEN, Germany, 15 July 2021: The Supervisory Board of BITZER has appointed Christian Wehrle, long-standing member of the Executive Board and Chief Operations Officer, as CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board with immediate effect, the company said through a Press release. At the same time, the Board appointed Rainer Große-Kracht, member of the Executive Board and Chief Technology Officer, as Vice Chairman of the Executive Board, the company added.

According to Bitzer, Wehrle will remain in charge of operations as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Große-Kracht will continue to act as Chief Technology Officer, Martin Büchsel as Chief Sales and Marketing Officer and Frank Hartmann as Chief Financial Officer.

Almost six years after the death of her husband, Peter Schaufler, Senator h.c., who was the leader and CEO of the company, the time has come for Christiane Schaufler-Münch, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of BITZER SE, to realign the board structure for the future, in order that the company always remains able to act, and that the future development of the BITZER Group is stable, the company said.

“Customer focus, values such as long-term thinking, partnership-based cooperation and loyalty to stakeholders as well as sustainability have shaped BITZER in the past and are firmly anchored in its corporate culture, Wehrle said. In this spirit, he added, he wanted to continue managing and setting the course of the company together with his three board colleagues.

According to Bitzer, Wehrle joined the company in 2001 as Plant Manager, first in Sindelfingen, and as of 2003, in Rottenburg am Neckar, in the International Competence Centre for screw compressors. In 2007, he took over the management of the BITZER production sites, worldwide, as Chief Production Officer, the company said. Since mid-2015, he has been in charge of the entire supply chain of the Group as Chief Operations Officer, the company added.

As Chief Technology Officer, Große-Kracht is responsible for research and development, worldwide, Bitzer said. He has over two decades of experience in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry and has been working for the company since 1997, it said. In 2018, it added, he was elected Chairman of the Association of European Refrigeration Component Manufacturers (ASERCOM).