Refrigerant charging solution for A3 refrigerants

With the No-Zone charging solution in place, Vesttherm is now able to charge flammable refrigerants safely and accurately ensuring consistent product quality and higher productivity

Refrigerant charging solution for A3 refrigerants

There is a rising demand for energy-efficient heating systems among residential and commercial consumers seeking to reduce their expenditure on energy consumption.

The awareness regarding enhancing energy efficiency, cost efficiency and the environmental benefits associated with heat pumps has been growing extensively and is expected to increase the demand for heat pumps and create lucrative opportunities for the market players.

With an increasing demand, manufactures should also consider making the manufacturing process sustainable and environmentally friendly. AGRAMKOW offers solutions that can reduce energy consumption and increase efficiency in heat pump manufacturing, and this was exactly what Vesttherm was looking for, for their production.

High efficiency, quality & flexibility

Vesttherm is an award-winning Danish private label producer of heat pumps and space heating pumps. For more than 40 years, they have been producing high-quality products for large parts of Europe and are known for high quality, flexibility, and the ability to produce customized solutions. Their product range includes consumer-oriented solutions for comfortable indoor climate and hot water in every home.

Vesttherm focuses on high energy efficiency and their annual production of many thousand products has not only high COP values, but their kilowatt usage and low heat loss values are among the best on the market.

"We selected AGRAMKOW products with the future in mind, they will fulfill our needs today and in the future."

Martin Bang (Technical and Quality manager)

The Challenge

With rising demand for energy-efficient heating system, Vesttherm has developed heat pumps that are among the most environmentally friendly heat pumps available on the market. These heat pumps use A3 refrigerants, that are natural refrigerants but due to their flammability there are regulations and requirements that needed to be considered before incorporating these refrigerants into their production area. Hazardous area around the charging area, ventilation, charging volume etc. are all aspects that needed to be considered.

What Vesttherm was looking for was a refrigerant charging solution that would fit easily into their existing production layout without massive rebuilding. A solution that could guarantee accurate filling volume while complying with all safety requirements and standards. A solution that would fulfill their needs today and also their future needs.

The Solution

Vesttherm invested in a charging solution that has a fully integrated safety system and a charging adaptor that is subject to an automatic leak test before each filling with a mechanical lock that ensures a correct, and 100% safe connection at all times. Additionally, at the heart of the solution is a centralized management system where Vesttherm can set up recipes and parameters for different heat pump modules to guarantee that each product is charged with the right media and amount.

No-Zone charging solution
- PROMAX (refrigerant charging station)
- SAFE-CMS (safety control module)
- RS-SMB (bottle refrigerant supply)
PLIS Smart Suite

The results

To meet all of Vesttherm’s requirements, AGRAMKOW presented the No-Zone charging solution. Designed to fit into existing production layout without any rebuilding. The solution reduces installation complexity as there is no need for knee walls, Ex tools and complex ventilation that is required around traditional charging solutions. By eliminating the Ex-zone, Vesttherm can also expect to reduce energy consumption for ventilation and heating/cooling of at least 90%.

The No-Zone solutions was a perfect fit for Vesttherm and in Q4 2021, the solution was successfully installed at Vesttherm’s production facilities in Esbjerg, without rebuilding or ventilation installation. Vesttherm has since then been able to charge refrigerants safely and more accurately that ensures a consistent product quality and higher productivity.

In addition to accurate and safe refrigerant charging, AGRAMKOW implemented PLIS Smart Suite to help document the process and store a complete history of results, making product traceability more efficient.

"Now we have 100% control of the charging volume and can easily document the process with PLIS Smart Suite, it’s a long-term solution which we can adapt to meet our future needs."

Martin Bang (Technical and Quality manager)