Tecumseh strengthens leadership team

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, 9 December 2021: Commercial refrigeration company, Tecumseh Products Company has appointed Jay Pittas as CEO. Making the announcement through a Press release, the company added that two proven industry leaders have taken new commercial management roles.

The newly appointed management team includes Doug Murdock, President of the Americas, and Ricardo Maciel, President of EMEA/Asia, the company said. Ernani Nunes continues to serve as the SVP of Global Sales & Engineering, it added.

Most recently, Pittas has served as the Chairman of Tecumseh’s Board of Directors since April 2020 and, thus, has already been an integral part of Tecumseh’s leadership team, the company said. Pittas previously served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Remy International, a supplier of highly engineered automotive parts for passenger and commercial vehicles, the company said.

Prior to that, he served as President of the Wolverine Specialty Materials business, which supplied coated metals for automotive and electronic applications, it said. He has also held significant international and managerial positions with Honeywell, UOP and ARI Technologies, it added.

To further accelerate commercial growth, operational excellence and improved customer service, Pittas has appointed three proven industry leaders to commercial management positions, the company said.

Murdock, who has served Tecumseh as the President and CEO for over five years, will assume the new role of President of Americas, the company said. Maciel, a former CEO of SECOP, assumes the role of President of EMEA/Asia, it said. Nunes, a former executive from Embraco, will continue to serve as the SVP of Global Sales & Engineering, it added.

Speaking on the appointments, Pittas said: “As we all work through these most challenging times, Tecumseh is taking every step possible to further strengthen our Leadership Team and, in turn, strengthen the service we deliver to our customers.

The steps we’re announcing today speaks to that commitment. We’re thrilled to have Doug and Ricardo and Ernani take on these key leadership positions, and help us drive forward in our continued transformation at Tecumseh.”

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.

Craft makes first complete R-290 commercial system

SAN DIEGO, California, 13 April 2021: US-based contract manufacturer, Craft said it has designed its first complete propane (R-290) refrigeration system that includes a condenser, compressor and evaporator for a US-based display case OEM, Hydrocarbons21.com reported on its Web site.

It is the latest move by Craft in the R-290 commercial refrigeration space, where it has stepped up its investment in the past year, Hydrocarbons21.com said.

The OEM, which had approached Craft about making the R-290 system, will begin marketing the cabinet “in the next few months,” said Dean Rafiee, Partner and Managing Director, Craft. “We will go into mass production by July.” He declined to name the OEM without their permission, Hydrocarbons21.com said. Craft, which focuses primarily on the North American market, will also manufacture its own version of the R-290 refrigeration system over the next few months, Hydrocarbons21.com quoted Rafiee as saying.

According to Hydrocarbons21.com, since 2016, Craft has manufactured Thermocraft R-290 condensing units for retail cabinets and other applications, first under the SF line and, then, the more efficient EH line. R-290 condensing units comprise about 10% of the condensing units manufactured by Craft, which also makes units for HFO blends R-448A, R-449A and R-513, and for R-404A, Hydrocarbons21.com said.

However, Rafiee sees a “big trend” to R-290 refrigeration among Craft’s OEM customers, Hydrocarbons21.com said. “The number of clients contacting us for R290 is amazing,” Rafiee said. “They see that’s where the future is headed, and they want to be there with the right products.”

Over the past year, Craft has been preparing for that future by making a “significant investment” in its manufacturing capability for R-290 products, along with testing chambers and charging functionality, Hydrocarbons21.com said.

“We see [HFO blends] as a transitional fluid, which is why we have invested so much in R-290 over the past year,” he said. “We are always directing our clients to R-290, to make an early investment, so later on they can compete in the marketplace.”

Hydrocarbons21.com quoted Rafiee as saying that R-290 compressor manufacturers, especially Embraco, “have taken the efficiency of R-290 compressors to the next level”. Craft employs Embraco and Cubigel (Huayi) compressors in its EH line of R290 condensing units, Hydrocarbons21.com said.

Craft’s EH Series R290 single-speed, air-cooled condensing units range from 1/5 to 3/4HP and are available for medium/high and low temperatures, Hydrocarbons21.com said, adding that they feature EC motors and condensers with 7mm tubes that “optimize the charge of refrigerant gas required,”