Miles Jupp with the Bitzer team at the ACR News Awards.
Bitzer was presented with the award during a ceremony at London's 155 Bishopsgate, in front of an audience of leading contractors, manufacturers and end users.
The judges recognised Ecoline+ as a milestone in the application of the environmentally friendly refrigerant. The range has been designed for use in supermarkets, one of the most important and sensitive applications for cooling in the cold chain.
For the first time in its history, Bitzer developed an Ecoline+ four-cylinder reciprocating compressor which, like the rest of the series, offers optimal efficiency at both full- and part-load operation, with seamless integration into refrigeration systems. The compressors are equipped with new line start permanent magnet motors (LSPM), which deliver significant efficiency benefits. They now also have mechanical capacity control for use in transcritical CO2 systems, widening the operating envelope and extending application.
This enables systems to operate at full- and part-load with equal efficiency to those equipped with frequency inverters. To enable end users to fully exploit the potential of this technology, Bitzer has developed a new control platform based on intelligent (IQ) modules.
Kevin Glass, managing director of Bitzer UK, said: “We are delighted to have received this accolade on behalf of the dedicated team of Bitzer engineers and developers behind Ecoline+.
“The award, adjudicated by an independent panel of industry experts, is testimony to the ground-breaking technology on which the range is based, which opens up cooling with transcritical carbon dioxide to mainstream application.”
Mr Glass added: “With Ecoline+ we have succeeded in making efficient CO2 technology simpler and easier to understand. This is the only way to encourage increased use of this pioneering – but potentially difficult to handle – refrigerant. It addresses and overcomes the main difficulties of using transcritical carbon dioxide, and opens the way for widespread adoption, to the benefit of contractors, end users and the environment.”