Daikin to participate in The Hotel Show Dubai

DUBAI, UAE, 20 May 2022: Daikin Middle East and Africa said it is set to showcase its innovative heating solutions of chillers and heat pumps at The Hotel Show Dubai 2022, from May 24 to 26 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Making the announcement through a Press release, Daikin said the solutions are designed to ensure efficiency and optimise energy consumption for the hospitality industry. The solutions will support organisations in the hospitality sector to take one step closer to their sustainability goals, it added.

Traditional methods of producing hot water are undergoing innovations across several western countries, driven by the rise of industry regulations, Daikin said, adding that the trend is also closely materialising in the Middle East. Within the region, the company said, designers are looking into advanced systems for a more efficient way to produce hot water and reduce emissions, in both conventional and non-conventional applications.

As the Middle East is one of the most attractive hospitality markets in the world, The Hotel Show Dubai 2022 provides an ideal platform to showcase its innovative heating solutions to thousands of visitors from across the region while contributing to better sustainability practices within the hospitality industry, it added.

Commenting on Daikin’s participation at the trade show, Paras Adhvaryu, General Manager, Applied Business, Middle East & Africa at Daikin, said: “We are extremely pleased to partner with one of the biggest events for the hospitality sector within the region. Daikin will be showcasing its strong portfolio of innovative next generation of heating solutions at the event, and this is a great opportunity for us to highlight our offerings which are sustainable, cost efficient and reliable with outstanding energy efficiency levels.”

Daikin said it is an Associate Sponsor of the show and will be showcasing its range of advanced chillers and heat pump solutions built for the heating of water through energy optimisation. The company said its team will be available on-site – Stand 1A36 – to take visitors the journey through cutting-edge technologies and solutions tailored to meet the increasing sustainable needs of the hospitality industry.

Daikin said it will also be organising a keynote session to presents its contribution to move the hospitality sector towards carbon net-zero. To be presented by Lorenzo Cipriani, Regional Consulting Sales Manager, Daikin Middle East and Africa, the company said, the keynote will provide interesting insights on contemporary systems that produce hot water while saving energy consumption and reducing emissions for hotels and other companies within the hospitality sector.

Carel installs its chillBooster in 100 Delhaize stores

BRUGINE, Padua, Italy, 2 December 2021: Carel has installed its chillBooster solution in 100 stores of Belgian supermarket chain, Delhaize. Making the announcement through a Press release, the company added it has historically developed and proposed adiabatic humidification technology for its high versatility, immediate energy savings and low installation costs.

Carel said the chillBooster exploits the evaporative cooling principle, whereby the air is cooled before entering the condensing unit – that is, the chiller or dry cooler. Atomisation of water into micrometric droplets gives rise to spontaneous evaporation, a process that takes place by using heat from the surrounding air, thus lowering its temperature, the company said.

In the summer, this brings reductions of around 10-15 degrees C in condensing unit air inflow temperature, meaning a lightening of the work load and, consequently, considerable energy savings, the company said.

During the summer of 2019, due to a series of heat waves, many of the Delhaize chain’s stores were unable to get their refrigeration units to work properly, Carel highlighted. In addition to an overall decline in the performance of cold rooms and refrigerated showcases, the higher temperatures caused several units to shut down, with a consequent loss of the goods on display and, in some cases, forcing the stores to close for a few days, it said.

As a result of these difficulties, and the corresponding economic damage, Delhaize started to look for a solution to prevent these situations from being repeated the following summers, the company said.

According to Carel, the chillBooster system immediately proved to be the best choice, and was successfully installed on 120 gas coolers in supermarkets throughout Belgium. The considerable flexibility of the Carel solution made it possible to adapt to the different needs of each of the more than 100 systems where chillBooster was installed, the company said.

The choice to adopt evaporative cooling, the company said, has meant that the existing units meet the original design requirements again, saving energy and bringing an immediate benefit in terms of efficiency.

Cooling to the Green Deal with natural CO2 refrigerant systems

WELSHPOOL, United Kingdom, 17 August 2021: Invertek Drives showcased its dedicated VFD, Optidrive Coolvert, for use on CO₂ refrigeration display cases used in the retail sector. The company added that its Optidrive Eco operates on larger current refrigeration compressor racks and cold rooms.

Invertek make the announcement against the backdrop of the European Commission’s Green Deal, also referred to as Fit for 55, which sets out proposals to cut EU net greenhouse emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. This could mean the current target of reducing fluorinated greenhouse gas (F-Gas) emissions by two-thirds by 2030, compared with 2014 levels, will be adjusted and tightened further.

The EU F-Gas Regulation brought a 44% reduction in the amount of available HFCs in the EU, compared to 2015. By 2030, the current regulation allows only 20% of HFCs being available, with stepped drops between then and now. This could change in the recast.

According to Invertek, the impact of both means there is a need to ramp up the use of natural refrigerants, such as CO₂, in cooling and refrigeration systems. And this isn’t just in the EU but throughout the world as part of the existing Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, it said.

Variable frequency drives (VFDs), the company said, are playing an important role in reducing emissions and energy use in HVAC&R systems. Optidrive Coolvert, it said, is one of the smallest VFDs in its class providing OEMs with opportunities to reduce panel space and lower machine costs. It fits directly into refrigeration display cases alongside a CO₂ compressor, it added.

This is in addition to end-user savings of up to 25% using CO₂ refrigerant condensing systems, which it is specifically designed to work with, the company claimed. A combination of meeting EU F-Gas Regulations and cutting energy use is a significant benefit for the end-user as well as for the environment, it said.

Mike Carman, Head of Sales, Invertek Drives, said: “The recast of the F-Gas Regulation comes as the EU sets out its new and wider environmental ambitions through the Green Deal. It’s widely believed this is the precursor to a significant adjustment in the F-Gas Regulation timeframe.

“With either more cuts in the amount of HFCs available in the EU or increased limits on emissions, it’ll impact on the manufacturers and end-users of refrigeration and wider HVAC/R systems”

According to Invertek, the Optidrive Coolvert also has the widest ambient operating range of between -20 degrees C and +60 degrees C, making it ideal for use in a wide range of environments. It can be used for the control of CO₂ ­­­­rotary or scroll, BLDC compressors used in supermarkets and convenience store display cases; heat pumps, and condensing units, the company said. This is in comparison to the Optidrive Eco VFD, which operates on larger-capacity semi-hermetic and screw compressors used in industrial and food retail refrigeration racks, and chillers, the company added.

According to Invertek, Coolvert is compatible with all motor types, including induction motors, permanent magnet motors, brushless DC motors, synchronous reluctance motors and Line Start PM motors ranging between Single Phase (Active PSE) 7A and 20A, and Three-Phase 14A to 24A (input of 200V to 480V).

Its open Modbus RS485 communication, the company said, ensures seamless connection to any external application controller, allowing the OEM freedom to select which components to use, which again helps lower manufacturing costs.

With an IP20-rated front and an IP55-rated rear, its panel mounting allows the drive’s power electronics to be cooled by the chilled air of the condenser, the company said, adding that this allows OEMs to select the smallest panel size for the control of the electronics, while removing heat generated by the drive and maintaining the IP rating.

ENGIE’s redesigned QUANTUM Water series available in 47 versions

LINDAU ON LAKE CONSTANCE, Germany, 28 June 2021: ENGIE Refrigeration said it has redesigned its water-cooled QUANTUM chillers and is able to offer the series in a total of 47 versions with a performance range from 200 kilowatts to four megawatts.

Jochen Hornung, CEO, ENGIE Refrigeration, said: “We at ENGIE Refrigeration have always aimed to offer our customers the highest-quality, most efficient and most sustainable chillers. With the QUANTUM Water series we have once again achieved this goal; our models currently represent the most efficient water-cooled chiller series in the world. We are proud of this fact and are further consolidating our pioneering role on the international refrigeration market.”

ENGIE said the revised QUANTUM Water meets the highest economic and ecological requirements for refrigeration supply. To achieve this, the company said, the team at ENGIE Refrigeration relied on new components and an innovative control concept. The team also deployed ultra-modern inner tube technology, which ensures an excellent heat transfer performance and an especially high level of efficiency with a low input of materials, the company claimed. In addition, the QUANTUM Water series is currently the only model series on the market with an open-flash economiser, integrated as standard in all 47 versions, which also helps improve performance and efficiency, the company further claimed. Moreover, operating companies benefit from control system options that are now even smarter, through adapting the tried-and-tested regulation strategy from the QUANTUM Air series to the water-cooled series and through deploying the latest Siemens PLC in control cabinets, the company added.

As a result, ENGIE said, QUANTUM Water chillers achieve even greater efficiency than their predecessor models, especially under partial load.  

As the world’s first water-cooled chiller series, the QUANTUM Water offers groundbreaking digital features, ENGIE claimed. With the new ‘smart control’, a smart user interface replaces the touch panel that was previously integrated in a fixed position on the machine, allowing the chiller to be controlled using a tablet and a Wi-Fi connection, for example, the company said. This improves ease of use for operating companies while also simplifying maintenance and servicing, the company said. Furthermore, customers can now choose between four different refrigerants – R-515B, R-134a, R-513A and R-1234ze – and all machines require less refrigerant than the predecessor series, the company said. For the first time, the QUANTUM Water can be ordered with special housing to provide maximum safety in the unlikely event of an accident occurring in a machine operated with the A2L refrigerant R-1234ze, the company said. Customers who lack a large machine room but would nevertheless like to use future-proof high-end technology in their refrigeration supply can thus set up the new QUANTUM Water outdoors – a hitherto unheard-of option on the refrigeration market, the company said.  

The QUANTUM Water is available in 47 model versions with a smart modular principle and a performance range from 200 kilowatts to four megawatts, the company said.

The new QUANTUM Water, ENGIE said, replaces the previous water-cooled series, QUANTUM W, QUANTUM B, QUANTUM X and QUANTUM G. The QUANTUM Power, it added, will remain available as a customer-specific solution for even higher performance ranges up to 8.5 megawatts.

SPX launches new MH Fluid Cooler models

WORCESTER, UK, 16 June 2021: SPX Cooling Technologies Inc. has released details of its expanded MH Fluid Cooler line, which it said is designed to meet an even more diverse range of applications. The MH Fluid Cooler, the company said, is now available with three coil materials, each delivering its own advantages.

The most recent innovation, the MH Element Fluid Cooler, is equipped with copper coils, the company said, adding that copper offers superior corrosion resistance and improved heat transfer. Compared with traditional HDG coil fluid coolers, copper coil requires 35% less fluid volume, and the cooler operating weight is reduced by 20%, the company said. Copper is also sustainable, with a high recycle value at the end of its operational life, it added.

Other MH Fluid Coolers are available with coils of either HDG (hot dip galvanised) steel or stainless steel, the company said. HDG steel offers good thermal performance in a closed and pressurised system, it claimed. Models with stainless steel coils use larger coil surface area to achieve results and are often utilised in coastal regions and applications prone to corrosion, it said.

According to SPX, one of the most efficient closed-circuit cooling towers in its class, the MH Fluid Cooler, is a hybrid system that combines the functionality of a cooling tower and a heat exchanger. Utilising a combination of evaporative fill media and prime surface coils, the MH Fluid Cooler offers significantly improved performance over conventional non-hybrid systems, the company claimed. Compared to forced-draft products with comparable footprint, its proprietary CoolBoost technology uses up to 75% less fan energy, requires up to 35% less process fluid and reduces operating weight by 15% or more, it further claimed.

HVAC applications, SPX said, include water-source heat pumps, water-cooled VRF (variable refrigerant flow) systems, geothermal heat pumps and chillers. Industrial process cooling uses include water-cooled air compressors, injection moulding machines, induction furnaces and other machines or jacket cooling, it said.

Thermal capacities of all standard MH Fluid Coolers are independently certified by Eurovent and the Cooling Technology Institute (CTI) for performance with water, ethylene glycol solutions and propylene glycol solutions, it said, adding that the MH Fluid Cooler is backed by SPX’s five-year mechanical warranty and energy efficiencies that exceed ASHRAE Standard 90.1 requirements.

ENGIE announces new version of the Quantum Air

Lindau, Germany, 14 April 2019: ENGIE Refrigeration is redesigning its entire air-cooled Quantum series, the company said through a Press communiqué. The new Quantum air models will be available worldwide from June 24, the company added through the communiqué.

“The requirements for the refrigeration industry have changed in recent years,” said Jochen Hornung, CEO, ENGIE Refrigeration. “Our customers are placing increasing value on greater efficiency and performance in their chillers, for example. We are accommodating these changing conditions by redesigning our air-cooled QUANTUM series.”

On the launch date, ENGIE Refrigeration will offer 28 basic models of the Quantum Air. Fourteen of these models use the refrigerant R-1234ze, and 14 models use the refrigerants R-134a and R-513A; all of them require lower quantities of refrigerant, the communiqué said. Like its predecessor model, the revised chiller is ideal for use in a variety of industries – from automotive manufacturers and suppliers to the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industry, industrial production and data centres, the communiqué said.

According to the communiqué, customers will benefit from additional important advantages in the future – ENGIE Refrigeration has combined the individual machine components in a new way, so that the Quantum Air surpasses even the exceedingly high efficiency of the current series. The chiller is also suitable for applications from 250 kilowatts to two megawatts, the communiqué quoted the company as saying, adding that with this refrigeration capacity, the Quantum Air outperforms not only its predecessor but also all air-cooled chillers from other manufacturers that are currently on the market.

An uncompromising stance

Italy’s relentless compliance with the European Union’s broader environmental targets is in the process of reshaping the HVACR sector in the country, with Andrea Guderzo, General Manager, Clivet Mideast FZCO, emphasising that the decarbonisation of the EU has created a new set of challenges and opportunities for the market in the country, as well as in the rest of Europe.

In agreement was Salah Eldeeb, AREA Export and Sales Manager, Castel, who says that there has been increasing demand for products that can accommodate new refrigerants with lower GWP in view of the F-Gas Regulation. “Everybody is focusing on these new regulations,” he says. “Within 2020, all HCFCs will be abandoned completely, so new projects and productions are going in with the new refrigerants.” Guderzo adds that the regulation has also led to a significant increase in the price of refrigerants and that those containing CFCs have already been withdrawn from circulation. “Today’s refrigerants may no longer be comparable with these, but their potential for harm cannot be ignored,” he says, emphasising that it is necessary to undertake step-by-step phase-down in refrigerants with a high-GWP.

Francesco Mastrapasqua, Marketing Manager, Refrigeration Systems, Epta, adds that the huge increase in price and the dramatic cut in the availability in the market, owing to F-Gas Regulation, has made every stakeholder consider very carefully the refrigerant for future applications. The market conditions created by these regulations, Guderzo says, has been driving innovation among HVACR manufacturers in Italy. As a temporary solution, he says, a number of producers are delivering units addressed to non-EU countries without refrigerants to cut down costs, which, he says, merely postpones the problem. However, Guderzo stresses that most producers are taking a more long-term approach by investing significantly in R&D to adopt new refrigerants, especially R-32, for small capacity units, which, he says is the same direction Clivet is taking. “Our company is facing the refrigerant challenge with great research and development work,” Guderzo says. “The first step is to adopt R32 refrigerant for units with inverter and scroll compressor for the medium- and low-capacity units. In the meantime, a joint task force involving the R&D units of Clivet and Midea, is developing new solutions using R1234ze refrigerant for high-capacity chillers. We are also studying to decrease overall the maximum quantity of refrigerant and the use of other low-GWP gases, especially for the medium-capacity chillers.”

The paradigm shift is especially palpable in the refrigeration sector, where Mastrapasqua says, natural refrigerants are being viewed as key to futureproofing equipment. “The refrigeration market in Italy is placing maximum importance on natural refrigeration solutions,” he says, adding that the company has, thus, ensured its scope of products offers a large variety of natural solutions. “The main technological trend and development have been for small-capacity systems; self-contained product adoption based on hydrocarbons, namely propane; and larger systems, which tend to be based on C02 for direct expansion market in Italy.” There has been strong determination in the market to adopt to this trend, he adds, as they are in accordance with F-Gas Regulation and Eco-Design Regulation. Mirko Travaglin, Marketing Manager Refrigeration – EMEA Region, Carel, seconds this, saying that in Europe, the use of natural refrigerants has mainly been implemented with trans-critical CO2 systems, which has, today, become a standard solution.

Bottlenecks in adoption: training

While the adoption of manufacturers is undeniable, Mastrapasqua says the main bottleneck for more widespread adoption is related to availability of skilled personnel that can ensure the performance and facilitate in the installation, commissioning and overall service of products with natural refrigerants. “There is still a need for training,” he says. “Despite all activities in place, the industry is still not coping with the demand. Still, competence and specific training is somehow a barrier in the adoption.”

Mastrapasqua says the industry, as a whole, has to work together to remedy this, in two aspects. “Aftersales service is one side,” he said. “On the other side is the need to provide simplified technology in our systems to fight against the very complexity of natural systems and provide the market with a product that eliminates all concerns.” Secondly, Mastrapasqua says the industry must take a more proactive stance towards training. Epta has made a move in this regard, with the recent inauguration of the Training Center for Refrigeration Experts, in Italy, which, the company says, is the only professional school in Italy to train future refrigeration technicians according to UNI EN 13313 and the first school in Europe, where a small store has been set up with trans-critical CO2 technology, made available by Epta. Costing over EUR 500,000 of investments and donations, the Training Center, the company says, was set up by the professional institute, ASLAM, together with the Assocold and Assofrigoristi associations, to address growing need for skilled expert to manage new natural refrigerants, which are the solutions of the future.

On the inauguration, Marco Nocivelli, Chairman and CEO of Epta and Chairman of Assocold, says: “Italy boasts a wealth of technical expertise in refrigeration and climate control. Passing that expertise on to young people will make a positive contribution towards increasing the success of the national system as a whole. The creation of the Institute bears tangible witness to our social commitment and our faith in the younger generations. It will allow them to achieve preparation of a high standard for a profession, which is increasingly in demand. The training is geared towards the future and will allow young people to become successful expert technicians that can provide effective responses to the challenges posed by constant technological progress, and by European and international regulations.”

Eldeep echoes the importance of proper training, saying that Castel, as an OEM provider, with 75% of its products compatible for refrigeration and only 25% going to air conditioning segment, is taking on a consultancy role to companies and providing assistance to develop products according to regulations. “We conduct a lot of seminars because of this, not only with the manufacturers but also with installers and maintenance,” he says. This, he says, has been especially vital, owing to the number of retrofits related to refrigerants. “In Italy,” he says, “new products and machines are going towards new refrigerants, but people have to know how they work. That is our role. We have to help them understand how it works and the difference between all the refrigerants for new technology and old technology.”

The need for skilled workforce, Matrapasqua says, is thoroughly recognised by the government, which has implemented a more stringent enforcement scheme for refrigerant management. “In Italy, we had the adoption of a new law, entering into force January of this year for the training and certification of equipment providers and refrigerant installation companies,” he says. “Contractors and services companies have to be certified to be allowed to perform any activity related to the refrigeration system. This is not new for our market in Italy. For several years, we have this requirement of certification; only, the process of training and certification is more strict, structured and more reinforced than ever before.”

The same law, Matrapasqua says, states that any official information related to operations performed on an F-Gas System will be downloaded in the country’s main database. “Whatever you do on an F-Gas system, whether you charge, adjust or check leakage of refrigeration, the details must be properly transmitted to the national database for a better control of these F-Gas refrigerants,” he says. “Laws and regulations on F-gas are more and more strict to ensure perfect control. If you choose natural refrigerants, there are less obligations and controls, so there is very strong discrimination in Italy. Of course, this drives the market to choose much easier refrigerants than F-Gas.”

Mastrapasqua believes that the narrative surrounding refrigerants in Europe is only the beginning of a trend that is already going global. “We believe the market is going to accept, more and more, natural refrigeration and CO2 systems, because they are the only sustainable solution for the future,” he says, with F-Gas, in Europe, and Kigali amendment, worldwide, driving forces in this direction.

Travaglin offers an example, as Carel, taking the key learnings from operations in Europe has released EmJ (Electronic Modulate Ejector) as the latest solution to allow trans-critical CO2 systems to work even in high-temperature climates. “In the Middle East,” he says, “close cooperation between Carel and the main OEMs in the region has created the opportunity to develop the first C02 supermarket, an UNIDO project in Amman, and a new supermarket in Masdar city in Abu Dhabi.”

Mastrapasqua says the industry is working towards making the system available and applicable globally. There will be a natural progression, more or less, everywhere in the world, he says. “Of course, at different times,” he admits, “but sooner or later, this is going to be accepted as the only solution.”