ThermoKey patents green refrigeration designing new aluminum microchannel
Nord Est Economia, the leading business newspaper covering the regions of North-East Italy, featured ThermoKey and the new technology we patented: the Multisystem Dual-Flow.
ThermoKey patents green refrigeration designing new aluminum microchannel that can recover the heat typically dispersed in the air
Here the translation from the full italian article ↓
ThermoKey patents green refrigeration
The Friulian company specializing in heat exchangers has designed new aluminum microchannel units that halve the use of refrigerants and reduce consumption. CEO Mr. Visentini: “Our heat exchanger can recover the heat typically dispersed in the air”
UDINE. The energy bill on the one hand and the abandonment of refrigerant gases on the other have pushed research and innovation in ThermoKey, a Friulian company based in Rivarotta di Teor, which has been producing heat exchangers of various types for over 30 years and is currently recognized in the international market as the ideal partner for manufacturers of refrigeration units in the field of air conditioning, refrigeration and process cooling.
After all, forecasts show that by 2100 energy consumption for air conditioning will increase by 33 times in the world due to urbanization and to a general increase in incomes and that in 2060 the amount of energy consumed for air conditioning may exceed that used for heating.
ThermoKey has therefore invested to reduce the impact of this important market. “Making the world of refrigeration and air conditioning more sustainable” is the mission of Giuseppe Visentini, CEO of ThermoKey.
“Most of the technologies currently in use produce cold by using refrigerant fluids, such as hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs, which absorb and release heat. Although HFCs have been banned in Europe since 2015 in favor of new low-GWP refrigerants, we are still far behind globally. Within the strategic plan of ThermoKey – he continues – we have designed new generation units capable not only of supporting a change of fluids but also a change of the conditioning systems, because we are already preparing for the realtransition of the sector that will start from 2025 when GWPs above a certain threshold will be removed from the market and many machines will then no longer work”
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ThermoKey is already the only Italian player capable of producing Aluminum Microchannel heat exchangers, a technology derived from the automotive sector – but developed by the company on industrial specifications – able to halve the use of refrigerants while reducing the electrical consumption of the plant.
The values of sustainability and savings, especially energy, are the growth drivers of the company’s Microchannel division which – in the first half of 2022 – recorded a doubling in turnover compared to the first half of 2021.
Starting from the skills of this division, the company has developed a new and promising technology capable of recovering the heat typically dispersed in the condensation phase of the refrigerant fluid: the Multisystem Dual-Flow system.
“This particular micro-channel aluminum heat exchanger – explains Visentini – protected by a set of proprietary patents, will be able to recover the heat typically dispersed in the air, for district heating, for heating sanitary water, to make low-temperature refrigeration systems more efficient or to improve the thermal and electrical performance of industrial air conditioning systems in the hottest months. The benefits of the investments made in sustainability and the proprietary technologies developed in this sense will be chosen by the air conditioning and refrigeration players, he concludes – who want to commit to reducing CO2 emissions”
The growth path started again in ThermoKey by the entry of new managers and financiers in 2014 is experiencing an acceleration that generated + 22% of turnover in 2021 and a further growth of 21% in the first half of 2022.
“As of June 30 – indicates the result Giuseppe Visentini – we have already acquired orders with deliveries within the year equivalent to the turnover of the whole of 2021 and exceeding 42 million euros”
A plus sign also for the employment with 208 employees, of which 73 are office workers and 135 between workers and direct production technicians.
“We have chosen to focus all our energies on the skills historically present inthe area – concludes Visentini – gradually divesting or selling the production sites in Turkey, Brazil and China. One step at a time, with an important investment plan, we have strengthened the team, developed increasingly performing and sustainable products and started a process of vertical integration, aiming at maximizing the internal production of components”
And having an integrated production process means “bringing skills into the company. This allows us to accelerate the development of new products and gives us the ability to respond to customer requests with greater speed and control”
