GTS, an Italian producer and distributor of “special, technical and pure gases,” including propane (R290) and isobutane (R600a), has joined the world’s leading hydrocarbon HVAC&R stakeholders as a bronze partner of the hydrocarbons21.com marketplace.
The increased demand for pure hydrocarbon products led to the opening of the company’s 55,000m2 (592,015ft2) distillation facility in 2021, with the capacity to produce more than 25,000 metric tons per year of pure natural hydrocarbon refrigerants.
Derived from raw liquid petroleum gas (LPG), “[hydrocarbons] are molecules of natural origin because in none of the ways of obtaining [them] is there the synthesis of something new,” said Paolo Zunino, CEO of GTS, in a recent article. With their zero ozone depletion potential (ODP) and low GWP, hydrocarbons are “highly sustainable and among the cleanest refrigerants,” he added.
“Thanks to its total control of the supply chain of n-butane [R600), isobutane and propane and the exclusive distribution of propylene [R1270] with a high degree of purity, GTS is a leading company in the production and sale of special gas-based products,” GTS says on its website.
“GTS Polarpure gases, as natural refrigerants, are ecologically and economically the best alternative to HFCs,” GTS says. In its line of Polarpure products, the company purifies hydrocarbon natural refrigerants to a minimum purity of 99.5% with a humidity limit of less than 10ppm.
With facilities in Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Romania and Thailand, the company assures delivery of “top quality” gas worldwide by using its own trucks, isotanks and cylinders to avoid contamination. Outside of Europe, GTS works with local partners to guarantee observance of legislation regarding the transportation and packing of hydrocarbon gases.
The company produces the following Polarpure refrigerants for specific needs and applications:
- R290, which is widely used in the HVAC&R industry. “This gas is the best ecological alternative to environmentally harmful R134a,” GTS says;
- R600a, which is primarily used in residential refrigeration, including refrigerators and freezers;
- R1270;
- R433A, R433B and R433C, which are mixtures of the refrigerants R290 and R1270; and
- R600.
Sustainable Footprint
GST manufactures hydrocarbon natural refrigerants with a sustainable CO2e footprint using R290 heat pumps powered by a 1MW solar plant to heat and cool distillation columns in its new Italian facility, which opened at the end of 2021.
Standard distillation plants consume large quantities of water and oil, Zunino explained. “The GTS process, with a combined control of heating and cooling, allows optimization of the consumptions in order to be in line with the goal of a green economy.”
As a QUIRIS Holding Industriale company, GTS – headquartered in Genova, Italy – provides natural gas-based products for numerous sectors, including hydrocarbon refrigerants for the commercial and residential HVAC&R markets, the aerosol industry, construction, food, research and development and more.
“By reducing our “Scope 3” emissions, we make the world greener and more efficient with GTS refrigerants,” the company said in a press release announcing its partnership with the hydrocarbons21.com marketplace.
“[Hydrocarbons] are molecules of natural origin because in none of the ways of obtaining [them] is there the synthesis of something new.”
GTS
