Boxes containing ten BITZER ECOSTAR condensing units are lined up in front of Pyramid Wilmar’s cold store in Colombo. The technicians of the Iceman Group of Companies have spontaneously decided to open up one of the boxes and are using it as a shelter from the sun. After all, with cloudless blue skies and an outside temperature of nearly 35°C, a place in the shade is highly coveted. That’s one of the major challenges facing ECOSTAR condensing units in Sri Lanka: reliably and efficiently cooling perishable goods even in tropical temperatures. Kwan Chee Wei, General Manager of BITZER South East Asia, and Jan Grübel, Market Sector Expert for Commercial Refrigeration at BITZER in Sindelfingen, are in the process of commissioning five condensing units with the technicians of the Iceman Group of Companies.
New ECOSTAR generation
‘Since 2009, we’ve already installed more than 200 of our reliable ECOSTAR compressors in Sri Lanka. But this is our first project with the latest generation of ECOSTAR LHV7E condensing units, integrated into a master/slave system,’ says Kwan Chee Wei. ‘Our job is to install reliable fail-safe refrigeration. Because our long-standing distributor Iceman already has experience with cold stores, the company is willing to place its trust in our tried-and-tested ECOSTAR quality even for a cold store of this size.’
A powerful quintet
The ten ECOSTARs cool two rooms, with five condensing units installed in each cold store. Four ECOSTARs are incorporated into a master/slave system, with one ECOSTAR functioning as a standby unit. Their ECOLINE VARISPEED reciprocating compressors operate with R134a refrigerant.
Partnership of many years
BITZER and the Iceman Group of Companies have already successfully implemented many projects together. Prasadini Thamel is sitting on a box that until recently held a packaged unit of R134a refrigerant. The engineer in the Iceman Group of Companies is responsible for the Pyramid Wilmar project. ‘For us, BITZER is a reliable partner whose high-quality products fulfil the requirements of our customers to perfection,’ says Prasadini Thamel. ‘We opted for the new generation of ECOSTAR for a variety of reasons. For example, here in Sri Lanka, we need to be able to rely on seamlessly operating refrigeration regardless of the voltage quality in the power supply system.’
One of the key benefits of the LHV7E is therefore the very low starting current, which not only relieves the power supply system, but also doubles the cooling capacity. Thanks to the new ECOSTAR condensing units, users can now cool twice the amount of goods with the existing voltage quality.
BEST Software for user-friendly operation
The new ECOSTAR is highly valued by users throughout Asia and this success story now lives on with the revised version. ‘The ECOSTAR condensing units of the next-generation LHV7E boast internal ECOLINE VARISPEED reciprocating compressors and require, for instance, less refrigerant than their predecessor. They’re also extremely energy efficient,’ says Kwan Chee Wei.
‘The ECOSTAR condensing units of the next-generation LHV7E boast internal ECOLINE VARISPEED reciprocating compressors and require, for instance, less refrigerant than their predecessor.’
Kwan Chee Wei
General Manager of BITZER South East Asia
‘We also opted for the ECOSTAR due to its ease of use,’ says Prasadini Thamel. ‘The user-friendly and simple operation of the BEST Software, in particular, played a key role in our decision – just like the Bluetooth connection that even works over a distance of 30 metres.’ In the future, Prasadini Thamel is planning to connect the ECOSTAR condensing units to the Internet, making it possible to more precisely monitor their energy efficiency. BITZER has also optimised the LHV5E and LHV7E models in accordance with the F-gas Regulation and the EU’s Ecodesign Directive, and approved them for HFO/HFO blends. These were aspects that ultimately convinced Prasadini Thamel to opt for the new ECOSTAR.
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Training included
Just after commissioning the five ECOSTARs, Jan Grübel from the BITZER headquarters in Germany trained the customers on how to use the BEST Software correctly. ‘That’s a great help for my colleagues and me for future projects,’ emphasises the engineer, who is fully satisfied with the course of the project. So satisfied in fact that other applications are already in the pipeline: the food commissioner of the Sri Lankan government is planning to install eight ECOSTARs for storing rice in Meerigama, which is located 30 kilometres from Colombo.
Documentation //