Kaltra announces an air-cooled range of chillers with scroll compressors

Following the debut of its water-cooled chillers running on refrigerant R452b this March, Kaltra announces an air-cooled range of chillers with scroll compressors using this low-GWP refrigerant.

Lightstream Scroll R452b chillers will be available in the capacity range from 200 to 800kW and may be fitted with the highly efficient free cooling system. Other options include partial heat recovery with a desuperheater or full heat recovery, making these chillers a multi-purpose solution for simultaneous, year-round production of chilled and hot water.

For new chillers, Kaltra engineers adapted the new condensers based on low-volume microchannel coils, which reduced the overall refrigerant charge by 25% compared to previous scroll chiller generation, while simultaneously increased heat transfer efficiency.

 R452b is an environment-friendly alternative to R410a gas with a GWP value of 675. R452b is a zeotropic HFO/HFC blend classified as a mildly flammable refrigerant (A2L ASHRAE safety class) which delivers an optimal balance of performance, safety, and compatibility to replace R410a and outperforms other alternatives for refrigerant R410a.

The field test results demonstrate that the energy efficiency of chillers running on R452b increases by 3.2%, while the capacity reduces just by 1.7% with the refrigerant mass flow of 80%, compared to units charged with R410a.

Headquartered in Germany, Kaltra Innovativtechnik GmbH designs, develops, and manufactures air conditioning and refrigeration equipment and systems. The company offers air-cooled, water-cooled, and free cooling precision air conditioners, IT cooling systems, including room-, rack- and row-based solutions, and energy management solutions. It also designs and manufactures air-cooled condensers, dry coolers, and cooling units for special applications. Additionally, Kaltra offers microchannel heat exchangers for condenser, evaporator, and water cooling and heating applications, as well as aluminium coils for small cooling applications. All Kaltra products are engineered with the clear objective of improving energy efficiency and reducing total cost of ownership.