The company also announced the expansion of Discus® air-cooled condensing units for Bohn, Larkin, Climate Control, and Chandler. The models have factory-installed features and various options. “Standard features provide better performance, faster access, easier service and greater reliability,” according to the company.

The company also introduced redesigned indoor compressor units and water-cooled condensing units. They are earmarked for supermarkets, restaurants, warehouses, and other commercial and industrial applications.

The design of the electrical boxes allow for ease of removal as well as front access to oil pump and compressor. Factory installed aspects include dual pressure switches, oil separators, check valves, hard valves, sealed suction filters, electric defrost timers, and crankcase heaters.

Also as part of the rollout were redesigned low-profile evaporators in sizes ranging from 3,500 to 37,000 Btuh. It has tube and fin design for higher efficiency, larger coil slots for heaters, reduced heater wattages, and fixed defrost termination, according to the company.

Keeprite (Brantford, Ontario) had a range of condensing units that it billed as functional, flexible, and practical. The KE line in the 2- to 7.5-hp range could be used with R-22, -404A, and -507. The KLV is a low-velocity unit cooler for prep rooms such as in supermarkets.

It is suspended from the ceiling. The low airflow keeps cold air off the prep room workers and is achieved by extending the length of the surface. The KV line consists of air-cooled condensing units from 10- to 80-hp. They are prepiped and self-contained, and are designed for contractors who want to have a variety of accessory options.

Geneglace of France was one of two companies showing ice-making equipment at the show. The flaker unit makes ice inside a stationary and insulated cylinder. A pump carries the water from the base to an upper water tray. Water is running continuously on the cold surface where it is frozen. The refrigerant evaporates inside the double wall and freezes the water. A helical reamer driven by a motor sweeps the surface while rotating, causing the ice to break and crack.

A new Rapid Freeze® Model 1000 “heavy-duty” commercial-size ice flaker is being manufactured and marketed by Howe (Chicago). The company’s product line was extended with this smaller (for Howe) capacity unit. The new capacity range is 1,000 to 20,000 pounds of flake ice per day. This new model incorporates factory-installed components and controls, all housed in new enclosures.

The Model 1000 unit offers diversity of refrigerants, electrical options, and condenser configurations, and with its compact design, can be used in a variety of applications.

Cooline (Miami) was one of the few companies at the AHR Expo to show a condensing unit designed for use with R-407C, an HFC refrigerant intended as a long-term replacement for R-22.

The environmental system from SenTech (Indianapolis) called IR-Snif Multiple Channel Detection monitors are advanced “early warning” loss-detection monitors featuring multi-zone detection from a single field-programmable, self-contained metal enclosure.

The IR-Snif-MCD’s multiple-channel architecture combines infrared detection of refrigerants available in 1-, 4-, 8-, and 16-zone models, each zone capable of monitoring any one of 22 refrigerants from a standard library via keypad entry at concentration levels as low as one part per million.

In addition, the MCD’s remote sensing capabilities for other gases offers a configuration that allows the IR-SNIFMCD to be set up as a combined gas monitor that senses refrigerants and additional gases (including ammonia, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen) by remote sensors.

Officials at the booth of Standard Refrigeration (Chicago) reported research is underway on expanding its product for R-134a, -407C, and -410A systems. “We are doing what the customer needs,” one official said.

XDX (Arlington Heights, Ill.) used the show to announce that its refrigeration valve is now offered as a factory option on Carrier equipment. The valve changes the flow regime of refrigerant in the evaporator to make heat transfer more efficient, according to the company.

Publication date: 03/03/2003