Chinese OEM eager for HC charge-limit rise

Chinese OEM Zhejiang XingXing Refrigeration Co., Ltd. (XingXing), a major manufacturer of R290 light commercial cabinets, told Hydrocarbons21.com that it is looking forward to the possible increase of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) charge limit of flammable (A3) refrigerant  in commercial refrigeration equipment to 500 g from 150 g.

The company put a large focus on its R290 plug-in units during the ChinaShop 2018 exhibition, held 1-3 November in Kunming, China; a charge limit increase would only bolster that focus.

"I think with the new regulation for an R290 charging volume limit increase from 150 to 500 grams, more and more of XingXings' plug-in cabinets will start to use R290, replacing R404A in the future," said Tingxun Zhang, director of cold chain research for XingXing.  The local Chinese regulation is currently 250 g. 

Currently, XingXing produces 400,000 R290 commercial units per year in its factories located in Foshan and Xuzhou. Of these, 300,000 are for the Chinese market and 100,000 are for export , according to Zhang.

XingXing began to produce R290 plug-in cabinets for export in 2005. For the  market in China, the company began volume production for R290 plug-in cabinets in 2015.

There was overall a large focus on R290 plug-in systems at the ChinaShop exhibition this year, indicating a significant penetration of R290 systems in China's commercial food retail market.

Leading Austria-based supplier of R290 plug-in systems, AHT, had its own booth for the first time at the show this year, where it exhibited only R290-based solutions. A large number of smaller local Chinese manufacturers were found to be displaying R290 plug-in systems throughout the show as well.

In addition to its R290 plug-in cabinets, XingXing was also exhibiting a new transcritical CO₂ rack system.

Zhejiang XingXing Refrigeration Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of XingXing Group Co., Ltd. which makes domestic and commercial refrigeration equipment, with three manufacturing bases in Taizhou, Xuzhou, and Foshan. Its annual production capacity is 6 million units and it exports to overseas markets, including North America, Europe, and Asia among others.

ChinaShop 2018: XingXing exhibits R290 plug-in cabinets