And, of course, those employed at the 300,000-sq-ft plant were more than happy to show its invited guests how it builds the Aqua series air-cooled chillers, Evergreen water-cooled chillers, and Gemini 20+ ton split systems.
Still, there was more to this recent Shuttle to Charlotte event. The powers-that-be certainly seized the moment by introducing and launching its new Evergreen 23XRV chiller, which uses HFC-134a refrigerant. It wanted to prove to this mixed group of contractors, wholesalers, building owners, consulting engineers, and facility managers that this new piece of equipment - labeled as "the world's first water-cooled, variable-speed screw chiller" - raises the bar in the development and application of high-efficiency, environmentally sound products.
"The driving strength behind Evergreen 23XRV is the variable-speed screw compressor," said Bruce Burdon, director of product management and marketing, Carrier North America Commercial.
"Delivering full-load energy ratings down to 0.53 kW/ton, the Evergreen 23XR significantly reduces peak demand charges, as well as power distribution equipment size requirements. And, with part-load energy efficiency ratings down to 0.33 kW/ton, the Evergreen 23XRV has one of the lowest life-cycle cost of any water-cooled chiller in the industry."
"It's absolutely an amazing machine,' said Scott McDonough, a Carrier water-cooled chillers application engineer. "To use a baseball analogy, this one is going to step up to the plate and hit a home run."
Raising The Bar
As Burdon put it, the Evergreen 23XRV combines the reliability of a screw compressor with the energy savings of a variable-frequency drive (VFD). In the end, said Burdon, this simple, reliable combination achieves ultra-high efficiency levels while lowering the cost of ownership."It's so advanced, it's simple," he said. "This product introduction will build upon our successful chiller introductions, such as the AquaSnap air-cooled chillers, using Puron refrigerant, and AquaForce chillers, using HFC-134a refrigerant, that we have brought to the market over the past year."
Ken Fox, president of Carrier North America Commercial, emphasized the importance of nonozone depleting refrigerants. The Montreal Protocol and the U.S. Clean Air Act require the phaseout of HCFC-based products, he noted. "With the ozone hole approaching record proportions, it becomes even more important to accelerate the use of non-ozone depleting technologies," he said.
Pavan Bharteey, product manager, Carrier water-cooled chillers, zeroed in on the new chiller's advanced VFD. "Utilizing new VFD technology, the Evergreen 23XRV achieves a power factor of 0.99 or better, reducing costly energy transmission losses by nearly 20 percent, versus the industry average," said Bharteey, adding that the VFD minimizes interference to sensitive electrical equipment.
Features of the "next generation screw compressor" include a hermetic motor, designed to provide cool operation plus no heat injection into a room. It also has Tri-Rotor, designed to balance thrust forces while reducing bearing loads. Thanks to shortened rotor length, it is designed to increase compression efficiency, too, said Bharteey.
Burdon noted that the 23XRV can save between $12,000 and $14,000 in energy costs per year over typical machines that meet ASHRAE 90.1 energy standards.
"This solidifies the energy efficiency our customers want," he said. "We have the complete [chiller] line now."
Plant Tours, Too
Mike McKee, plant manager of the Charlotte plant, was particularly proud to show the entire production line and process. Tours were taken, giving the invited guests a first-hand look at how the chillers are manufactured. Carrier came to Charlotte in May 1998 and by September of the following year was producing chiller products. "We are really proud of this plant," said McKee."This event allows our customers to see our chillers and split systems being built firsthand," chimed in Burdon, "and shows our dedication to this facility and to these product lines."
Tom Franaszek, product business manager, chillers, expounded on the product offerings.
"We've done over 70,000 hours of testing for one goal," he said. "And that's to bring to market the world's most reliable and efficient chiller for our customers."
The night before the tours, Carrier provided a reception, dinner, and entertainment for its invited guests. Most left with a smile on their face. "I like what I saw," said Richard Brown, vice president of Lyon Service, Bowling Green, Ky., before departing for the airport.
Publication date: 11/28/2005
