HANNOVER, Germany — The annual International Trade Fair for Refrigeration, Air Conditioning & Ventilation (IKK) often sends signals from Europe to U.S. contractors concerning technological changes overseas that could eventually have an impact stateside. The 22nd annual IKK here was no exception.
Two notable issues concerned ice machines and refrigerants. In the ice machine sector, there was an increased emphasis on technology involving rotating evaporator drums that do away with harvest cycles and augers. It is a method just getting attention in the United States, but its presence at IKK was more extensive than it has ever been. It seems virtually every one of the more than a dozen European ice maker manufacturers were showing variations on the technology.