The biggest challenge for OEMs in making the transition from HFCs to R290 in self-contained commercial refrigeration equipment has been charging the systems, according to Kit Fransen, director of North America Product Management for Tecumseh Compressor Company, Ann Arbor, Mich.,
“A lot of manufacturers of commercial refrigeration equipment are small, and it takes a lot of capital investment to charge a system,” he said in an interview at AHR Expo last month.
Addressing that challenge, Tecumseh offers to charge an R290 system in its facility in Tupelo, Miss. “We’ll work with [OEM] customers who don’t want that investment,” Fransen said.
Tecumseh will design the system with the evaporator and condenser, produce it and charge it. “It’s shipped fully assembled and they drop it into their cabinet,” he said.
At the AHR Expo, Tecumseh featured its IntelliCool complete refrigeration system for self-contained cases, precharged with R290 at the factory. It includes a variable-speed compressor ad case controller.
“A lot of manufacturers of commercial refrigeration equipment are small, and it takes a lot of capital investment to charge a system.”
Kit Fransen, Tecumseh
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