BITZER: Specialist for Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Technology
Refrigeration and air conditioning technologies are key elements of our world. BITZER has been making a contribution with innovative products and services for 90 years. The products maintain optimum temperatures in a wide range of applications – including the transport and rail sector. BITZER is represented all over the world with 75 sites in 40 countries, including its sales companies and production facilities. Trade and service partners included, the BITZER network of manufacturing, development and sales extends to almost all countries in the world.
Optimal Climate Comfort for Modern Public Transport
Travelling by train is more than just getting from A to B: people read, sleep or work on the train and need an environment in which they feel comfortable. The key to a high level of travelling comfort is the air conditioning and heating system. However, the components for air conditioning and heat pump systems for rail vehicles must fulfil a unique set of demands. Space and weight constraints, efficiency, and working life have a direct impact on investment and operating costs as well as future compatibility. Therefore, suitable components should be above all robust, low-noise and light. Vehicle manufacturers and transport companies can rely on BITZER’s many years of experience with components for air conditioning and heat pump systems specialized for these requirements. The portfolio offers the right product for every application challenge.
Ready for the Future of Rail Transport – With Natural Refrigerants
The compact, low-light SPEEDLITE ELV52 scroll compressor, for example, is suitable for various refrigerants including low-GWP refrigerants as well as the future-proof refrigerant propane (R290). Natural refrigerants such as propane or carbon dioxide will play an increasingly important role in the transport sector as industrial countries worldwide are implementing ever stricter regulations on refrigerants. Substances with high global warming potential (GWP) are being phased down, becoming scarce and expensive. In the European Union, the EU F-Gas Regulation is particularly relevant. More and more transport companies, for instance, already explicitly require the use of natural refrigerants for the vehicles in urban areas.
The SPEEDLITE ELV52 is around 50 per cent lighter than conventional compressors and features a highly efficient suction gas-cooled permanent magnet motor. Even under drastically changing operating conditions, the compressor demonstrates its efficiency due to its wide control range. Furthermore, a separate speed control adjusts its capacity to the current cooling and heating load. An integrated Economiser technology expands the application limits of the compressor significantly. This is particularly advantageous in heat pump operation which will also be at home in the modern rail vehicles of the future.
For the natural refrigerant CO2 (R744), BITZER furthermore offers the CO2LITE, a new, ultra-compact reciprocating compressor. With regard to current environmental regulations, CO2 is considered a future-proof refrigerant due to its low global warming potential. The refrigerant performs well in mobile air conditioning and heat pump systems, including an comprehensive thermal management, and enables high efficiency in heat pump operation even at low ambient temperatures. The company’s many years of field experience in handling CO2 as a refrigerant in mobile applications flowed into the development of the CO2LITE. With its reduced height of 257 mm and a weight of under 80 kg, the reciprocating compressor supports a space-saving system design and can be used either vertically or horizontally. A wide range of capacity control enables cooling capacities of up to 29 kW and heating capacities of up to 25 kW.
More on efficient air conditioning and heat pump components for the rail sector at our website.