Danish university employs new lower GWP chiller
A scroll chiller using R452B, the A2L lower GWP alternative to R410A, has been employed at a new university building for education and research in electronic engineering.
The new Centre for Industrial Electronics (CIE) at the University of Southern Denmark (USD) in Sønderborg incorporates a Clint brand chiller from Italian manufacturer GI Industrial Holding. Launched in March, it is one of the first chillers using the A2L refrigerant R452B.
The 3200m2 CIE building is designed to to address the shortage of electronics engineers in Southern Denmark. Finance for the DKK176m (€23.6m) project was provided by Danfoss’ owners the Bitten & Mads Clausen’s Foundation and Linak.
The new building will house laboratories, testing facilities and project rooms that will help to ensure study and research at a high international level. These are expected to put a high demand on the cooling system.
The solutions provided by GI Industrial Holding features multi refrigerant Danfoss scrolls DSH, MPHE, electronics, sensors and valves.
“We definitely see customers asking for low GWP solutions. They want to increase their energy savings and reduce their climate footprint,” commented GI Industrial Holding technical director Francesco Fadigà.
“The transition to lower GWP refrigerants is accelerating. This solution here is actually the first in Denmark where we are using the new refrigerant combined with the Danfoss compressor scroll with IDVs. We chose to develop the chiller with R452B and DSH multi refrigerant compressors as it allows us to reach the same high-efficiency, reliable and flexible solution compared to standard units with R410A refrigerant but with a much lower GWP,” he added.
Originally developed by Chemours as DR-55 and now marketed as Opteon XL55, R452B has a GWP of 676, around 65% less than that of R410A.