Temperzone recently supplied ECONEX R32 Rooftop Package Units to a half billion dollar automated warehouse project in Redbank Queensland.
Everything about this project is gigantic. The building footprint is 6.6 hectares (66,000 square metres) and it is 34 metres high, which is about the height of a 10 story building. When finished, it will be the largest dry goods warehouse in Australia. The concept is very high tech, with state of the art automation of the warehouse process itself.
From an air conditioning perspective, there were some significant challenges mainly related to the sheer size of the structure. The huge building volume requires huge airflow.
While the extreme building size meant that cranes could not reach the centre area of the roof. The central rooftop package units would have to be placed by helicopter.
Temperzone was faced with a problem – The existing OPA 2100 Eco Ultra units would easily handle the airflow and capacity requirements but were too heavy to lift by helicopter!
The solution was to recommend a custom version of Temperzone’s innovative ECONEX R32 Inverter rooftop package units. The engineering team were able to create custom units that met all the required specifications with a reduced weight of 20% compared to the standard 200kW R410A model.
The refrigerant charge on the units was also reduced by 15% compared to the standard 200kW R410A model which is not only a reduction in refrigerant volume but also a large reduction in Global Warming Potential (GWP) per Kw cooling.
The units are integrated into the BMS but also monitored by Temperzone to ensure the units are running at their optimum performance and can diagnose any issues quickly.
Temperzone started to release ECONEX products in mid 2020. Temperzone’s ECONEX products are designed to maximise the efficiency benefits of both R32 refrigerant and inverter compressors. R32 has a approximately one third the GWP of R410A. Many companies are expressing a preference for R32 refrigerant, if it is available, as part of their Global Warming reduction targets.
ECONEX products also offer the additional cost benefit of simply requiring less total refrigerant than equivalent R410A units. The project was made up of 25 x OPA 1770 (177kW) ECONEX Rooftop Package units and 9 x OPA 1370 (137kW) rooftop package units. Each unit has 4 x R32 inverter compressors and carel controls.
Most importantly, the Temperzone ECONEX units were able to meet the capacity and airflow requirements and stay under the weight limit required for the helicopter lift.
All units were manufactured at Temperzone’s Sydney factory.
ECONEX OPA units leaving Temperzone's Sydney factory, bound for Brisbane.
Higher efficiency and Lower GWP
Temperzone will be releasing more technical information on ECONEX R32 Rooftop Package units in early 2021. Watch this Space!