BVG is Germany’s largest local transport company. In 2010, the company installed CO2 air-conditioning in seven buses in Berlin. The A/C systems were provided by Konvekta. Most new city buses and all long-distance buses in Germany are equipped with A/C systems with an average HFC leakage of 13-14% a year, or a total of 140,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
ClimateWell systems run using heat, water and glycol, and do not require a refrigerant. The systems are particularly well suited for transit vehicles, recreational vehicles and contruction vehicles as air-conditioning can be used while the engine is off.
Deutsche Bahn, a German railway company and Europe’s largest railway operator, aims to use natural refrigerants for air conditioning in new trains by 2020. The first DB Bahn train to be fitted with CO2 air conditioning was a Siemens VT642 train, in Chemnitz (Saxony) in 2016. Since then the company has carried out a few more projects with a CO2 air-cycle system.
Semi-hermetic reciprocating compressors for transcritical CO2 applications
Konvekta has had some success outside of Deutsche Bahn with CO2 MAC in buses in Germany and Austria. “The vehicles with CO2 in operation are roughly 100 vehicles,” Michael Sonnekalb of Konvekta.
This heat pump is designed to offer air-conditioning for electric buses. Unlike other systems it doesn’t require an additional diesel heater to supply hot air.The company claims that the adaptability of the system enables optimum operating conditions for the battery, allowing an increase in range by up to 40%.
OKA, the Australian manufacturer of on/off road vehicles is the first OEM in the world to use hydrocarbon refrigerant in their mobile air-conditioning systems. The company states that by adopting hydrocarbon refrigerant, OKA produces more efficient, more environmentally sustainable, less toxic and higher performance AC systems all at a lower price.
In 2015, Regie des transport de marseille (RTm), a French bus line operator, began piloting the use of CO2 refrigerant in two of its new buses. The new system is said to benefit from improved thermodynamic properties, high volumetric cooling performance and good thermal transmission efficiency. It is expected that the use of this technology will extend the buses operating distance by 40% compared to a conventional R-134a system.
Have your say!
ATMO Intelligence, the Market Development division of shecco invites air-conditioning and refrigeration stakeholders to participate in a survey that assesses the F-Gas Regulation, sector by sector, while also looking into what should be included in an upcoming revision of the regulation.
Respondents select the sectors they are active in and complete a custom survey based on their interests. “With these results, we will produce a comprehensive report that will be shared with policymakers across the EU to drive more progressive change, particularly in terms of refrigerants and getting rid of harmful gases in all sectors – from transport refrigeration to domestic air conditioning,” said Ilana Koegelenberg, Market Development Manager at shecco.
Once completed, the report will be freely available for download.The survey should take around 15-20 minutes.
TransAdelaide Bus Company (now operated by Torrens Transit) in Australia installed hydrocarbon air conditioning in the drivers’ compartment, while the passengers’ compartment is cooled by desiccant cooling.
French automotive company Valeo has launched a CO2 heat pump for cooling and heating buses.
The system is a modular, reversible, HFC-free heat pump that heats, cools and demists electric vehicle cabins.
The CO2 version can operate in temperatures as low as -20°
In 2013, Volkswagon, the world’s third largest carmaker, announced that the company plans to use CO2 as the refrigerant of choice in MACs. The decision by VW follows Daimler’s (November 2012) findings that the chemical refrigerant R-1234yf (HFO) is unsafe for use in its cars, and their decision to further invest in the development of CO2 mobile air conditioning. Volkswagon estimates that 3-5 years will be needed before the commercialization of CO2 MACs. Other companies exploring the CO2 option for MACs include: Audi, BMW and Porsche.
