Reftronix, a Danish OEM of electronic controls and cloud solutions for CO2 (R744) HVAC&R systems, has joined the world’s leading R744 HVAC&R stakeholders as a bronze partner of the R744.com marketplace.
The company provides electronic controllers for CO2 condensing units and heat pumps to provide “optimal efficiency under all conditions,” the company said.
For condensing units, the controller measures temperatures and pressures to calculate “optimal” performance and then adjusts the compressor speed, the electronic valves and the fan speed accordingly, Reftronix said. The controllers can be configured for single-stage medium-temperature and two-stage low-temperature applications with up to two evaporator controllers with electronic expansion valves (EEV) included.
The company’s RefLink encrypted cloud service provides temperature and energy monitoring with planned updates, early warning fault detection and “smart” service dispatch, the company said.
Last year, Reftronix announced it had developed a “cost-effective” CO2heat pump prototype for older residential homes in partnership with Danish refrigeration contractor Temp-Tech with funding support from the government group Energy Cluster Denmark.
The small heat pump provides radiator-based space heating and domestic hot water and was designed to help owners of older homes get off of fossil fuels. “In some European countries they have to get off fossil fuels by 2030. So they need an option to replace the water boilers,” said Henrik Christensen, Managing Director for Reftronix.
At Euroshop 2023, Reftronix displayed a controller for small commercial CO2 heat pumps. The heat pump was designed in collaboration with several European OEMs and research institutes with funding support from Denmark’s EUDP (Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program).
“The whole purpose of this project is to develop a commercially available [CO2] heat pump, in the range from 20 to 200 kW [5.7 to 56.9TR],” said Christensen. The unit will provide both hot tap water and space heating with a prototype to be tested this summer, he said, adding that Danish OEM Fenagy, a subsidiary of Beijer Ref, will own the final product.
The advantage of CO2 is it delivers the higher temperatures required by older radiator systems, making it a “cost-efficient” replacement for gas and oil furnaces, Christensen noted.
Headquartered in Sønderborg, Denmark, Reftronix was founded in 2016 with “the mission to develop electronic solutions for the global HVAC/R industry [adapting to the] regulatory mandated use of natural refrigerants,” Reftronix says on its website.
“[Our] mission is to develop electronic solutions for the global HVAC/R industry [adapting to the] regulatory mandated use of natural refrigerants.”
Reftronix