Voting Open for Accelerate Magazine/Europe’s Innovation of the Year Award

Voting is now open for Accelerate Magazine/Europe's Innovation of the Year award. 

The award, to be voted on by the public leading up to the ATMOsphere Europe conference in Warsaw, Poland, October 16-17, recognizes companies that have developed an innovative natural refrigerant-based product expected to have a significant impact on the market. 

This year’s nominees are:

• Area Cooling Solutions' iCool Max CO₂ refrigeration unit
• Dorin's CD600 range of transcritical CO₂ compressors
• Mirai's Cold 15 O/A air-cycle refrigeration machine

See below for detailed descriptions of each nominee. Voting is closes at 3:00 pm CET on October 16.

To submit your vote, click here. 
 

The winner will be announced during a special ceremony at the ATMOsphere Europe conference beginning at 7 pm.

Other Accelerate Magazine/Europe awards will be announced at the conference, including: Best in Sector/Food Retail, Best in Sector/Industrial, Best in Sector/Foodservice and Person of the Year

These awards recognize people and organizations excelling in advancing natural-refrigerant technologies.

For more information on ATMOsphere Europe, click here. 

Details on nominees

Area Cooling Solutions' iCool Max CO₂ refrigeration unit:

The iCool Max CO₂ refrigeration unit is an indoor refrigeration unit for urban stores. It is the first high-pressure, air-ducted unit working with CO₂ refrigerant in the market, said Area Cooling Solutions, based in Barcelona, Spain.

The system is designed for retail outlets such as supermarkets, grocery stores, markets, petrol stations and convenience stores up to 200m² (2,153ft²). It is suitable for cooling cabinets with or without doors from 11 to 18 linear meters (36-59 linear ft). The company describes it as “energy efficient, easy to install and simple to maintain” as well as having an “Incredibly silent operation.”

The compact unit – 750mm (2.5ft) wide, 1700mm (5.6ft) high and 1700mm (5.6ft) long – is designed to work inside a technical room of a store, avoiding the need for outdoor units. The unit is designed to enter a technical room by passing through a standard door and lifts.

A high-pressure EC fan with directional fan orientation provides for up to 120 Pa air pressure for ducted exhaust. With its compact design and proximity to the cooling cabinets, the system allows for shorter piping connections, resulting in less CO₂ charge and reducing discharge risks when in stand-by mode.

Its built-in gas cooler provides for easier and faster installation, said the company. 

Remote control and monitoring via Modbus TCP, as well as preventive maintenance and diagnostics, may be done remotely using a phone or tablet. Alarms are sent via SMS or email.

Other features include: two-stage, hermetic rotary BLDC inverter-driven compressor; and capacities of 15kW (4.3TR) @ Te -10ºC (14ºF) and 8.7kW (2.5TR) at -30ºC (-22ºF).

Available for low- or medium-temperature applications, the system is designed and manufactured in the EU (Poland) and TÜV approved. 

With this system, “we are able to use CO₂ technology in any climate anywhere in the world as we avoid direct sun exposure to the unit,” said Area Cooling Systems.

Dorin's CD600 range of transcritical CO₂ compressors:

Italian manufacturer Dorin describes its CD600 range of transcritical CO₂ compressors, which are scheduled to enter the market around the end of 2019, as “the world’s largest CO₂ transcritical compressors.” The compressors offer displacements ranging from 57.65-81.95 m3/h (2,036-2,894ft3/h), motor power from 120-180hp and refrigeration capacities from 132-187kW (37.5-53.2TR) at -8°C (17.6°F) T_ev/90bar/35°C (95F) T_gcout.

The CD600 represents Dorin’s flagship compressors range, with “the largest displacements available in the market,” the company said. The compressors’ capacities allow en users to decrease CAPEX as fewer compressors are needed for a given capacity.

The range really represents a “kind of industrial revolution” as it provide refrigeration capacities which are “more two times larger” than that of the competitors’ largest models,” said the company, adding, “This is paving the way to using CO₂ in new larger industrial applications which were not even plausible before.”

Mirai's Cold 15 O/A air-cycle refrigeration machine:

The Cold 15 O/A an air-cycle refrigeration machine capable of cooling down to -130°C (-202°F), said Mirai, based in Brno-Tuřany, Czech Republic. Mirai describes the machine as “extremely reliable and durable.”

The Cold 15 machine operates in an open-cycle (direct cooling by air) thanks to the reverse-joule air cycle. It uses ambient air, which is free, abundant, environmentally friendly, non-toxic and nonflammable, and there is no need for refilling.

The machine is “particularly efficient” at producing temperatures from -40°C (-40°F) to -110°C (166°F), said the company, adding that to reach these temperatures, traditional systems have to use liquid nitrogen or multiple cascades with HFC refrigerants.

The system features a turboexpander and compressor located on the same shaft, which allows energy consumption reductions of up to 30%, the company said.

The machine uses air bearings, which eliminates the need for oil management systems, refills, and oil-associated service expenses. This also makes the system “overall a safer and more reliable solution.” 

Mirai pairs its Cold 15 refrigeration machine with a humidity- extraction device, preventing accumulation of ice and removing the need for defrosting.