Chillventa gas coolers and evaporators: a condensed summary

Chillventa 2014 will go down in the natural refrigerant annals as a tremendous success. It was the perfect host to over 120 companies showcasing their innovative and exciting solutions for CO₂, ammonia, hydrocarbons and water to over 30,000 engaged visitors. In this article, R744.com reporters let you know all about the gas coolers and evaporators as well as charging systems that were on display.

At the 2014 Chillventa exhibition R744.com journalists were privy to innovative products and had many invigorating talks with natural refrigerant experts on site. Below we report back on all the latest technologies regarding CO₂ gas coolers and evaporators as well as charging systems.

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BAC is one of the oldest companies present at Chillventa this year; having been founded in 1938 in Baltimore, USA. BAC’s Trilliumseries CO₂condenser is a prime example of BAC’s accumulated knowledge combined with ecological awareness. The condenser uses a patented dry-coil adiabatic design, which boasts the following capabilities:

Reduces system energy use by 37%
Reduces overall system size and pressures
Requires minimal maintenance
Provides long term reliability

It also possesses different modes of operation to help optimise unit operation whatever the temperature. This means, for example, that below the critical point of 31^oC, it works as a condenser, but as a gas cooler when it is above 31^oC.

Friterm is a Turkish company that has been honing their craft since 1979. During this time they have established themselves as specialists in air-cooled condensers, air coolers and dry coolers. At Chillventa this year they had their CO₂ evaporator on show. They are built for convenience and can fit into a small or medium sized cold room as easily as they can into a frozen storage room. They utilise highly efficient fans (EBM or ZIEHL-ABEGG or equivalent) to help disperse air further while their units are robust and are adorned with powder-coated galvanised steel casing parts all the way around.

Also on display were Friterm’s CO₂ gas coolers, with high efficiency coils operation under high pressures and tubes made of a special copper alloy. These strong features means that Friterm’s gas coolers are able to operate at pressures of up to between 75-120 bar.

Güntner showcased their popular and extremely versatile GVAC air coolers, which come in compact and vario designs. They are available respectively in both horizontal and vertical design for optimal use. They come in a wide performance range and are flexible regarding the number of fans to better suit customer requirements. The level of customisation is a key point of interest but not the only one:

Optimised heat exchanger for CO₂
CO₂ up to 80 bar
25% lower tube volume
Haccp certificate TÜV Süd

All the other trademarks of quality associated with Güntner are also present, including; special mounting brackets, tested and delivered with gauge pressure, also, with hinges allowing it to hang-out. This means that the air coolers are perfectly accessible, allowing them to be cleaned easily.

Products from other companies

Agramkow showed off their EMAC CO₂charging station for low to medium sized productions. It fuses state of the art technology with high quality components to ensure this charging station achieves an optimal performance.

Buco pride themselves on their ability to successfully combine engineering and thermodynamics. BUCO’s evaporator systems that were on display are both efficient and well crafted.

Cabero, a German based firm, is a leading manufacturer of heat exchangers for refrigeration and air-conditioning technology. They showcased their IEHSA and IEHGA industrial evaporators, which utilise CO₂ and can be used for large scale commercial refrigeration and for industrial refrigeration. Their smooth pipe and smooth fins combined with large surface areas maintain the moisture content of the chilled goods which is in contrast to almost all current systems.

Frimetal have been manufacturing evaporators and condensers from sunny Madrid since 1963. They had their cubic axial condenser, cubic unit cooler, dual discharge unit cooler and floor-mounted evaporators on show.

Karyer are manufacturers of customised condensers and evaporators for cooling applications in any size and capacity that is required. They had a wide range of unit coolers on display, with their EB-DC, EB-PC, ED-DC and EG-DC models being specficially made to accommodate CO₂.

Lu-ve had on display their new compact FHC models of commercial unit coolers, including the new Mega Giant XXLD dry coolers and the new range of XDHV and XDHL single-row air cooled condensers and dry coolers which are more efficient, save more energy and are all compatible with natural refrigerant CO₂.

Refteco offer customised solutions for cooling and heating systems. They pride themselves on their innovative capabilities based on their sound knowledge of the market. They had their “cubic commercial air coolers” on show. They are include:

Stainless steel bolts and rivets
Drip tray with welded corners
Aluminum epoxy panted casing
1-50kw
Performances of between 800-2800 m³/h

Roller displayed sturdy and efficient CO₂ air coolers, named rather charmingly, co₂olers. Due to the high pressure of CO₂ they have used special copper tubes to define the maximum operational pressure at 60 bar. Models include the DLK/T, DHN, FHV/T and HVS/T.

Stefani had a their Dual-Flow Air Cooler on display at Chillventa. This product, which boast 40 years of experience beneath its cubic veneers, is compact and powerful. The range consists of 144 models and it is their SBDI models that are purpose built for CO₂ fluids.

ThemoKey had their Blast Freezer Unit Cooler on display. The Unit coolers are ideal for all sectors where fast freezing of food is necessary. Their FLC series uses a low charge of CO₂ and has low electricity consumption.

Vahterus, a Finnish company, showed the world their PSHE unit, which is ideal for condensing applications. Its key benefits include its:

High thermal efficiency
Low pressure drop
Small refrigerant charge

Viessmann has also entered the evaporator market with their new product, the EWA-CO₂. The EWA-CO₂ models were purposefully crafted to be versatile and convenient. Their design ensures that the units are easy to open, clean and to service. They are available with the choice of between 1 and 4 fans. Their EWAP-4-CO₂, which has 4 fans has the following stats:

1800w of power for the electric defroster
0.8m³/s air flow
24m² exchange surface

Zanotti are the self-proclaimed “Kings of Cold”. They are also constant innovators and displayed their “CO₂ monoblock unit” running with CO₂ for medium and large volume cells. It possesses: