World News

Industry news and insights from Europe and around the World

UK News

Latest news and developments in the United Kingdom

Products

Keep up-to-date with the latest new products and technology

Features

General articles, applications and industry analysis

Sky is no limit for R1234ze

BELGIUM: Engie Axima chillers employing the low GWP HFO refrigerant R1234ze are playing a crucial role in air traffic management while making significant energy savings.

Two Quantum chillers with a total capacity of 5MW have been installed to prevent overheating at Eurocontrol’s headquarters and flight management and data centre facilities in Brussels. Eurocontrol is the intergovernmental organisation providing air traffic management for as many as 36,000 commercial flights per day within the European airspace.

The Eurocontrol headquarters in Brussels

The Quantum chillers are designed with oil-free, magnetic-bearing centrifugal compressors and employ remote condensers. The dual chiller configuration allows for redundancy, with both chillers operating on just 50% of their full load capacity. The system has also been incorporated into Eurocontrol’s existing building management system, giving facility managers a complete view of their infrastructure.

The chillers replace an older system running on R22.

Honeywell supplied the R1234ze, which it markets as Solstice ze. With a GWP of less than 1, Solstice ze is designed for medium pressure chillers to cool large buildings, infrastructure projects, process chillers in refrigeration applications, district cooling and heating, organic Rankine cycle, high-temperature heat pumps, and medium-temperature self-contained refrigeration cabinets.

“Cooling is a critical part of our infrastructure and protects the integrity of our systems,” said Luc De Backer, Eurocontrol’s project implementation manager. “By switching from an older, less efficient cooling system to this new Engie Axima-Honeywell solution, we have incorporated technology that is strategically designed to meet our needs over the next two decades and future-proofs us for performance, safety, efficiency and environmental impact.”

According to the data, the cooling system’s design will help achieve annual energy savings up to 1,500MWh and will reduce Eurocontrol’s total annual consumption by more than 12% – the equivalent of as much as €150,000 per year in energy costs. Payback will be achieved in less than 10 years.

Related stories:

Engie claims largest R1234ze installation27 March 2018
GERMANY: Engie Refrigeration has supplied what it claims is the world’s largest chiller installation using the low GWP HFO refrigerant R1234ze. Read more…

Latest News

8th October 2024

Beijer Ref Australia to distribute Fujitsu

AUSTRALIA: Wholesaler Beijer Ref is to distribute Fujitsu air conditioners, one of Australia’s top brands, throughout the continent.
7th October 2024

Epta says Unite statements are “factually incorrect”

UK: Commercial refrigeration manufacturer Epta UK has hit back at comments from Unite pending a strike by workers at its Bradford factory, claiming that Unite’s statements were “factually incorrect”. 
7th October 2024

Vilter VQ95 single-stage NH3 heat pump

USA: Copeland’s new Vilter VQ95 single-stage ammonia heat pump is designed for district heating and industrial process heating applications.
7th October 2024

Wieland buys heat exchanger company Onda

GERMANY/ITALY: German copper tube manufacturer Wieland has acquired Onda SpA, the Italian-based manufacturer of advanced heat exchangers.
6th October 2024

EU project to develop heat pump with PCM storage

GERMANY: A €3.3m European initiative is set to develop a multi-source heat pump combined with energy storage using phase change materials (PCM) for zero-emission buildings.
6th October 2024

Unitherm acquired by Purmo Group

FINLAND/IRELAND: Purmo Group, the Finnish climate solutions company, has acquired air-to-water heat pump supplier Unitherm Heating Systems.