GEA BluQ with the GEA CompaX Compressor Validated by Field Tests
The GEA BluQ chiller with GEA CompaX, one of the world’s first semi-hermetic compact screw compressors for ammonia, has proved to be a great success in field tests at Wolf Butterback KG. The company is a specialist manufacturer of frozen Danish pastries that caters in-store bakeries.
In 2018 Wolf ButterBack set out to expand its capacity in order to accommodate business growth. As part of this expansion, the company installed the GEA technology to act as a base-load machine in a system of several chillers to provide cooling power to re-cool the CO2 deep-freezing system.
Jens Geyer, head of cooling technology at Woolf ButterBack, said that he was impressed by the small footprint of the plant and the OMNI control system that handles the entire chiller system. “The chiller with the GEA CompaX, has been in use here since 2018 and, in that time, has logged 15,000 operating hours, meaning it’s been in operation almost 24/7,” he said. “Even on hot summer days, with outside temperatures of up to 36°C, the compressor worked perfectly and responded impressively to load changes.”
The GEA CompaX features a gas-cooled motor, with a 3-in-1 design that combines the motor, compressor and oil separator into a very compact and hermetically-sealed unit.
The GEA CompaX is available in two sizes: the CompaX 700 has a swept volume flow of 708m3/h which, at a maximum rotational speed of 5200rpm, allows the BluQ to provide up to 1300kW of cooling capacity for air conditioning; when used with the larger CompaX 900, with a swept volume of 870m3/h, the BluQ will generate up to 1,600kW.
The GEA Omni control panel features an intuitive, high-definition, multi-touch interface, which allows the user to operate their GEA system with transparency and control over the system – not only on-site but also remotely, as the control panel can be accessed and operated by authorized users via a tablet or smartphone.