This year, the International Institute of Industrial Refrigeration (or IIAR) renamed its annual conference from the Industrial Refrigeration Conference & Exhibition to the Natural Refrigeration Conference & Heavy Equipment Expo, reflecting a new emphasis on, not just ammonia, but another natural refrigerant, CO2.
The 2017 event, which took place February 26-March 1 in San Antonio, Texas, did indeed feature many exhibits and sessions that addressed systems using ammonia, ammonia-CO2, or CO2 by itself.
The following are highlights of some major announcements at the show.
Evapco’s packaged chiller
Evapco displayed its new Evapcold low-charge packaged ammonia chiller at its IIAR show booth. The chillers are designed to produce temperatures ranging from 10°F to 60°F, with a “sweet spot” between 10°F and 35°F, said Kurt Liebendorfer, vice president, Evapco.
MRBRAZ’s AC chiller
MRBRAZ & ASSOCIATES, an engineering design firm based in Azle, Texas, has designed and installed low-charge DX ammonia chillers that provide air conditioning in office space at about 10 warehouse locations run by a major U.S. retailer, including four in the past year.
Hillphoenix to distribute NXTCOLD
OEM Hillphoenix has announced that it will be the sole distributor of NXTCOLD’s ultra-low-charge packaged ammonia units for industrial applications in Canada, Mexico and Latin America, handling manufacturing, marketing and installation.
Frick’s low-charge central system
Frick Industrial Refrigeration, a division of Johnson Controls, introduced a low-charge ammonia central system that uses “remote distributed condensing” (or RDC) units to substantially reduce the amount of ammonia required in industrial applications.
Emerson’s new CO2 industrial compressors
At the IIAR show, Emerson, through its Vilter company, promoted transcritical and subcritical CO2 compressors for industrial end users. For example, its new 550 series of open-drive reciprocating compressors, to be released in the next two months, will accommodate capacities ranging 50 to 223 TR for low-temperature applications (-20°F evaporating and 23°F condensing). The compressors will come in two, four- and eight-cylinder models. The eight-cylinder model was on display at Vilter’s IIAR show booth.