The decision has been made: The GEA Bock StarCO2mpressor, the new generation of mobile CO2 compressors for electric bus and railway air conditioning and heating, was awarded the coveted Busworld Innovation Label Award 2019 at the world's largest bus trade fair in Brussels.
The international jury of experts honored the pioneering StarCO2mpressor concept with innovative "star" drive gear design, which opens up new possibilities for economically and ecologically sustainable mobile electric bus and railway air conditioning.
"We are delighted that our new StarCO2mpressor has received the Innovation Label Award. It confirms the leading position of GEA Bock compressors in the refrigeration and air-conditioning technology sector and shows that functionality, economy and climate protection can go hand in hand even with mobile compressors for natural refrigerants," says Ulrich Frey, Product Manager Mobile Applications at GEA Bock. The StarCO2mpressor was presented to an international trade audience for the first time at Busworld Brussels 2019, the industry's leading trade fair, from 18 to 23 October.
The core of the StarCO2mpressor is a radial piston technology which is specially designed for transcritical use with the natural refrigerant CO2 (R744) and enables a very compact system design with numerous technical and constructive innovations. This makes the new mobile CO2 compressor perfectly suited for space-saving roof installation in electric buses and railways," says Ulrich Frey. "This includes the lowest overall height in the industry of only 220 mm and the light weight of only 83 kg, which is at least 25 percent below the standard compressor in this performance class.”
Further advantages of the StarCO2mpressor: Energy-saving heat generation even at low outside temperatures down to -20 °C without power-consuming electric or environmentally harmful fuel-operated auxiliary heaters. This increases range of an electric bus by up to 40 percent. And all this with reliable, quiet running thanks to multiple bearings and safe operation even at large angles of inclination. "The innovative technology of the StarCO2mpressor has already successfully proven its practical suitability in extensive field tests with renowned manufacturers," explains Frey.
With the new StarCO2mpressor, GEA bock is expanding its portfolio of compressors for natural refrigerants with an ecologically and economically efficient technology for the future electromobility market.
GEA is one of the world's technology and innovation leaders in the development of environmentally friendly, economical refrigeration and air conditioning solutions - with the world's largest portfolio of compressors for natural refrigerants. Here the company has decades of expertise in stationary CO2 compressors and mobile compressors for buses and railways, which are now the standard of all well-known manufacturers. The focus is on compressors for natural refrigerants such as CO2 (R744), which meet the constantly increasing climate protection requirements ecologically and economically.