Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems, Ltd. (MHI Thermal Systems) has developed a large-capacity 40 horsepower (HP) model, the "HCCV4001M," to add to its series of "C-puzzle" fluorocarbon-free commercial refrigeration condensing units that use R744, a natural refrigerant of carbon dioxide (CO2). The new model responds to increasing demand for large-capacity condensing units that use CO refrigerants in food refrigeration applications in the wake of the introduction of Japan's Revised Fluorocarbons Emission Reduction Act (Note1). The new HCCV4001M is scheduled to go on sale in Japan in summer 2020. Marketing will focus on demand for upgrades to existing units that use fluorocarbon refrigerants, to support environmental load reduction initiatives mainly through energy saving and curbing of global warming.
The newly developed 40HP HCCV4001M enables the C-puzzle lineup of refrigeration condensing units to accommodate larger-scale needs in food cold storage facilities, complementing the 10HP model (HCCV1001) launched in 2017 and the 20HP model (HCCV2001M) added in 2018. The 40HP HCCV4001M is equipped with two units of the 20HP model, which has been hailed for the high efficiency and quiet operation of its proprietary two-stage compressor integrating a scroll compressor and a rotary compressor (Note2), and a unit containing a receiver, etc. While adopting a visually attractive design with units of uniform height, the equipment can optionally be installed separately in order to freely accommodate diverse installation sites of limited space. Pipe requirements are also simpler than with installation of multiple small-capacity units.
The C-puzzle's R744 CO2 refrigerant has a global warming potential (GWP) of only 1, so the new HCCV4001M contributes significantly to curbing global warming. Under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer adopted at meetings in the Rwandan capital in October 2016, countries have been mandated to phase down production and usage of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), signaling intensification of global efforts to prevent climate change.
The Japanese Government is leading the domestic response to these moves by accelerating measures to promote the adoption of natural refrigerants in the refrigeration market, adding impetus to their adoption, which currently lags at around 20%. Business expansion is anticipated from projected demand for upgrades not only in small storage facilities adjacent to cold storage warehouses but in such warehouses as well.
Going forward, MHI Thermal Systems will continue to focus on developing natural refrigerants and high-performance products that use low-GWP refrigerants, as its way of contributing worldwide to protection of the global environment.
Note 1 Formally known as the "Act on Rational Use and Proper Management of Fluorocarbons," this is a totally revised update, carried out in April 2015, to the original Fluorocarbons Recovery and Destruction Law enacted in 2001. Under this new legislation, commercial refrigeration condensing units with a refrigeration capacity exceeding 1.5 kilowatt (kW) (approx. 2HP) are required by 2025 to adopt refrigerants with a GWP below 1500 (CO2 =1).
Note 2 MHI Thermal Systems' two-stage compressor adopts the world's first technologies (patented) enabling outstanding efficiency even with high-pressure refrigerants.
