Hydrocarbons making inroads into supermarket sector

Euroklimat S.p.A. sees the commercial refrigeration market as a growth area for its propane chillers. Accelerate Europe spoke to Matteo Gaggianese, the company’s marketing manager, to find out more.

“In our opinion the most interesting sector is commercial refrigeration, but potentially many other sectors could use hydrocarbons too,” says Gaggianese, predicting that forward-thinking end users will drive growth.

The company has seen great success with large retail chains, installing systems throughout Europe. In Italy, Romania and the UK, Euroklimat has installed its EKO chillers in multinational retailers METRO AG and Carrefour, along with UK supermarket chain Waitrose.

Euroklimat’s range of EKO propane chillers and refrigerated units are commonly used in cold storage or to refrigerate food in supermarkets at a controlled temperature. These machines cover medium (-8°C) and low (-25°C) temperature applications.

Gaggianese applauds the retail industry’s forward-thinking resolve to use natural refrigerants. “The sector of large retail chains is certainly one of the most attentive to natural refrigerant solutions. We believe that there may be many opportunities for development in this area.”

In addition to air-cooled water chillers, Euroklimat manufactures air conditioners and heat pumps for comfort as well as process applications.

The company has resolved to invest more into getting the technology out there. “We definitely plan other installations in this market, where we can consider ourselves the leader in number of installed units and by offering the more complete product range,” Gaggianese argues.

Moving into the pharma industry

 “Our air-cooled solution, with axial fans for outdoor installation, is much in demand due to its efficiency,” he says.

Euroklimat hopes to roll its products out in chemical and pharmaceutical applications. “This solution is highly appreciated as it allows multinational companies to maintain a level of environmental sustainability in line with their policies,” he says.

Roche, a large pharmaceutical company, has collaborated with Euroklimat in Mannheim, Germany. Roche makes products there for people with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, as well as in-vitro diagnostics.

Euroklimat’s air-cooled water chiller with 30 kW cooling capacity, using a semi-hermetic compressor, was installed in the Roche facility. It was equipped with an inverter for precise temperature control.

“This involved special software designed specifically for this customer, as well as an electrical part that conformed to the specifications provided by Roche,” Gaggianese explains. The unit was installed in 2014 and has been working perfectly since then.

Euroklimat is also going to launch new chillers and other products for hydrocarbons this year. “At the moment we are creating a range of high-efficiency propane heat pumps,” he says.

Click here to read the full version of this story in the latest issue of Accelerate Europe.