Secon to Feature R290 Chillers at Virtual Trade Show

German manufacturer Secon will feature its air- and water-cooled chillers that employ hydrocarbons as the primary refrigerant at the Virtual Trade Show on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Virtual Trade Show, featuring 77 exhibitors and more than 2,500 attendees deom 1,300+ organizations, will take place live around the world over a 24-hour period on September 1-2. shecco, publisher of this website, is hosting the event. It is free to attend, and interested parties can register here.

Secon ́s air- and water-cooled chillers use propane (R290), though for low-temperature applications R1270 (propene/propylene) is used, and R600a (isobutane) is employed for high-temperature heat pumps.

During the Virtual Trade Show, Secon, founded in 2010, will present a short film as well as some brief case studies and other product information. “The Secon team is looking forward to showing all visitors the benefits of naturalrefrigerants,” the company said.

Hydrocarbons offer “an energy-efficient solution for almost all applications and will make an ever greater contribution to the sustainable reduction of direct and indirect CO₂ emissions,” said Secon. “Furthermore, the use of hydrocarbons  can also avoid the use of new synthetic HFO refrigerants, which, as emitters of TFA [trifluoroacetic acid], are just as questionable as HFC refrigerants!”

Low refrigerant charges

The capacity of Secon’s air-cooled units range from 5 to 1,200kW (1.4-341.2TR) while providing system temperatures from 20°C to -30°C (68°F to -22°F). The units have one to four independent refrigerant circuits with very low refrigerant charges, saod Secon.

The capacity of Secon’s water-cooled units range from 5 to 900kW (1.4-256TR) for system temperatures from 20 °C to -35 °C (68°F to -31°F). Here too, a design with one to four circuits is possible. Secon also offers units in a LC (Low Refrigerant Charge) version, limiting refrigerant charge per circuit to below 4.9kg (10.8lbs) of R290. “This makes installations within buildings a lot easier,” said Secon. If required, water-cooled units can be designed with a weatherproof housing, so that outdoor installation is possible.

Secon’s compact FXP (Kompakt Chiller FXP) R290 chillers can be operated both as individual devices and in a hydraulic network consisting of several units. The FXP chiller employs a multichannel plate heat exchanger, which "serves as an evaporator, condenser and internal heat exchanger in one,” said Secon. The refrigerant charge per circuit is limited to a maximum of 2.5kg (5.5lbs) for standard sizes.

In a retrofit project, Secon supplied three FXP door-wide indoor compact chillers to a university facility in central Germany, along with an adiabatic cooler. Each chiller has a cooling capacity of 50kW (14.2TR).

Secon also provides water-water and air-water heat pumps with R290 and R600a, subcritical water-cooled CO₂ racks, and an industrial dry cooler, “which perfectly match with Secon`s water-cooled chillers,” said the company.