Manufacturers of centrifugal ice machines
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Our plant has newly installed a 300,000-ton synthetic ammonia production unit, and we would like to use a centrifugal chiller to meet the cooling needs of the entire plant. Could you recommend some manufacturers that are known for producing high-quality such equipment?
How is Shenyu’s performance? We would like to learn more about manufacturers with good performance.
Shenmu produces compressors; I haven’t heard of them making refrigeration machines. Have they acquired Dalian Refrigeration?
In China, only SHENGU and Sichuan General can do it； If foreign manufacturers are introduced, there will be more of them.
The current development level and trends of centrifugal chiller technology: Since the 1970s, the global refrigeration equipment industry has been hit by two worldwide energy crises, which somewhat affected production. During this period, due to increasingly stringent energy consumption requirements, manufacturers and research institutions made every effort to improve efficiency. As a result, energy consumption indicators for almost all types of refrigeration equipment decreased to some extent. At the same time, numerous refrigeration devices utilizing various energy sources emerged. It can be said that from the 1970s to the 1990s, the development of refrigeration equipment manufacturing technologies—including centrifugal chillers—was primarily characterized by efforts toward energy conservation.
Since the late 1980s, environmental issues such as severe depletion of the ozone layer and global greenhouse effects have come to the forefront. In 1985, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was adopted in Vienna; in 1987, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer followed. In December 1992, the Montreal Protocol was further amended at the Copenhagen Conference. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—including R-11, R-12, etc.—were required to be limited to no more than 25% of their 1986 consumption levels by early 1994. Developed countries were obligated to phase them out completely by January 1, 1996 (developing countries were granted a 10-year extension). Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)—including R-22, R-123, etc.—must also be phased out entirely by 2030 in both developed and developing countries (with a 10-year extension for the latter). China joined the Vienna Convention in September 1989 and subsequently acceded to the amended Montreal Protocol in June 1991. Consequently, in recent years, virtually all newly developed refrigeration equipment has been explicitly marketed as being free of CFCs/HCFCs. It is fair to say that since 1989 or 1990, developed countries have initiated a comprehensive technological revolution aimed at eliminating CFC/HCFC usage. (China only began addressing this issue seriously in the past three to four years.)
Status of centrifugal chillers abroad: Over the past seven to eight years, production and technology related to centrifugal chillers overseas continued to develop. However, due to economic downturns in Western nations, production of these chillers plummeted in 1990 and 1991, only beginning a slow recovery in 1992. Given the high design and manufacturing standards required for centrifugal chillers, production has remained largely monopolized by a handful of major global corporations; this fundamental situation persists today and is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, owing to environmental concerns, energy issues, and misjudgments by senior executives at certain firms, this monopoly landscape has undergone some changes:
Japan: Influenced by energy constraints, major Japanese firms have increasingly shifted their focus toward absorption chillers. Currently, the output of centrifugal chillers produced by Japan’s leading manufacturers accounts for merely one-tenth of their total absorption chiller production. For instance, Hitachi and Ebara each produced fewer than 100 centrifugal chillers in 1992, while their respective absorption chiller outputs reached around 1,000 units during the same period. Meanwhile, there was no notable advancement in centrifugal chiller technology within Japan during this era. Faced with regulatory pressures, prominent Japanese firms like Hitachi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Ebara did not introduce models using alternative refrigerants such as R-123 or R-134 until 1992; in contrast, the United States had already begun mass-producing such units as early as 1989.
United States: The U.S. remains the world’s largest producer of centrifugal chillers, boasting the highest technological level; its output in 1992 stood at approximately 2,850 units. By comparison, annual absorption chiller production there totals only about 300 units. (According to another British source from 1994, U.S. centrifugal chiller output in 1992 actually reached 4,800 units, versus 390 absorption chillers.) Major U.S. manufacturers include Carrier Corporation, York International, Trane, and Schlage General Electric. Carrier Corporation, headquartered in Syracuse, New York, is still the world’s largest refrigeration equipment manufacturer; it produces items across 21 of the 28 main categories of refrigeration equipment (excluding thermal storage systems, beverage cooling units, commercial refrigeration gear, fans, valves, dampers, and certain accessories). Carrier pioneered the world’s first centrifugal chiller; prior to the mid-1980s, its output accounted for roughly half of all U.S. centrifugal chiller production. Despite initiating research into alternative refrigerants as early as the 1970s, Carrier failed to commercially launch many models using such substances due to flawed corporate decisions. Even in 1992, Carrier maintained that R-123 posed unacceptable toxicity risks for use in commercial air conditioning applications. Consequently, by late 1991, Carrier’s share of the U.S. market for centrifugal chillers had dropped to just over 20%. Carrier operates a joint venture plant in Shanghai, China, producing its Series 19 centrifugal chillers. In 1992, it launched a Series 19 model compatible with both R-22 and R-134; however, its cooling capacity range was limited to merely 300–500 tons. To reclaim lost market share, Carrier introduced a new model utilizing R-123 in 1994. Carrier belongs to the renowned United Technologies Corporation (UTC), which also includes Otis Elevator Company and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. UTC generated sales of approximately $3.8 billion in 1992; its CEO announced in March this year that 1994 revenues would reach $4.9 billion, with roughly 25,000 employees (excluding subsidiaries).
York International is the world’s largest publicly traded company specializing exclusively in refrigeration equipment; founded in 1874, it experienced financial difficulties during the early 1980s and was briefly owned by the Borg-Warner Group before becoming an independent corporation later that decade. York has seen rapid growth recently: its sales rose from $620 million in 1985 to $1.65 billion in 1991, reaching $24.22 billion in 1994—a 19% increase over 1992 figures. Ranked 462nd among America’s top 500 corporations per Fortune magazine’s 1994 list, York reported net profits of $90 million, employed 15,900 staff members, and held total assets worth $588 million. York began manufacturing centrifugal chillers in 1954; based on aggregate cooling capacity, it remains the world’s top producer of such units. Its specialized industrial-grade centrifugal chillers, developed two decades ago, currently face no significant international competition. York was also the first global firm to experimentally test and commercially deploy centrifugal chillers utilizing R-123 as a refrigerant; as early as October 1987, York’s R-123-based models successfully completed factory operational trials and compatibility tests, subsequently being installed at York’s headquarters and DuPont’s facilities. York offers an extensive range of centrifugal chillers, having developed variants using R-123, R-134, R-22, ammonia, and other refrigerants to cater to diverse client needs. Since last year, it has additionally introduced large-capacity centrifugal chillers powered by gas turbines.
Trane was established in 1893 by James Trane and his son Reuben Trane; in 1938, the firm manufactured the world’s inaugural fully enclosed centrifugal chiller assembly.
Since the late 1980s, environmental issues such as severe depletion of the ozone layer and global greenhouse effects have come to the forefront. In 1985, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was adopted in Vienna; in 1987, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer followed. In December 1992, the Montreal Protocol was further amended at the Copenhagen Conference. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—including R-11, R-12, etc.—were required to be limited to no more than 25% of their 1986 consumption levels by early 1994. Developed countries were obligated to phase them out completely by January 1, 1996 (developing countries were granted a 10-year extension). Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs)—including R-22, R-123, etc.—must also be phased out entirely by 2030 in both developed and developing countries (with a 10-year extension for the latter). China joined the Vienna Convention in September 1989 and subsequently acceded to the amended Montreal Protocol in June 1991. Consequently, in recent years, virtually all newly developed refrigeration equipment has been explicitly marketed as being free of CFCs/HCFCs. It is fair to say that since 1989 or 1990, developed countries have initiated a comprehensive technological revolution aimed at eliminating CFC/HCFC usage. (China only began addressing this issue seriously in the past three to four years.)
Status of centrifugal chillers abroad: Over the past seven to eight years, production and technology related to centrifugal chillers overseas continued to develop. However, due to economic downturns in Western nations, production of these chillers plummeted in 1990 and 1991, only beginning a slow recovery in 1992. Given the high design and manufacturing standards required for centrifugal chillers, production has remained largely monopolized by a handful of major global corporations; this fundamental situation persists today and is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, owing to environmental concerns, energy issues, and misjudgments by senior executives at certain firms, this monopoly landscape has undergone some changes:
Japan: Influenced by energy constraints, major Japanese firms have increasingly shifted their focus toward absorption chillers. Currently, the output of centrifugal chillers produced by Japan’s leading manufacturers accounts for merely one-tenth of their total absorption chiller production. For instance, Hitachi and Ebara each produced fewer than 100 centrifugal chillers in 1992, while their respective absorption chiller outputs reached around 1,000 units during the same period. Meanwhile, there was no notable advancement in centrifugal chiller technology within Japan during this era. Faced with regulatory pressures, prominent Japanese firms like Hitachi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Ebara did not introduce models using alternative refrigerants such as R-123 or R-134 until 1992; in contrast, the United States had already begun mass-producing such units as early as 1989.
United States: The U.S. remains the world’s largest producer of centrifugal chillers, boasting the highest technological level; its output in 1992 stood at approximately 2,850 units. By comparison, annual absorption chiller production there totals only about 300 units. (According to another British source from 1994, U.S. centrifugal chiller output in 1992 actually reached 4,800 units, versus 390 absorption chillers.) Major U.S. manufacturers include Carrier Corporation, York International, Trane, and Schlage General Electric. Carrier Corporation, headquartered in Syracuse, New York, is still the world’s largest refrigeration equipment manufacturer; it produces items across 21 of the 28 main categories of refrigeration equipment (excluding thermal storage systems, beverage cooling units, commercial refrigeration gear, fans, valves, dampers, and certain accessories). Carrier pioneered the world’s first centrifugal chiller; prior to the mid-1980s, its output accounted for roughly half of all U.S. centrifugal chiller production. Despite initiating research into alternative refrigerants as early as the 1970s, Carrier failed to commercially launch many models using such substances due to flawed corporate decisions. Even in 1992, Carrier maintained that R-123 posed unacceptable toxicity risks for use in commercial air conditioning applications. Consequently, by late 1991, Carrier’s share of the U.S. market for centrifugal chillers had dropped to just over 20%. Carrier operates a joint venture plant in Shanghai, China, producing its Series 19 centrifugal chillers. In 1992, it launched a Series 19 model compatible with both R-22 and R-134; however, its cooling capacity range was limited to merely 300–500 tons. To reclaim lost market share, Carrier introduced a new model utilizing R-123 in 1994. Carrier belongs to the renowned United Technologies Corporation (UTC), which also includes Otis Elevator Company and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. UTC generated sales of approximately $3.8 billion in 1992; its CEO announced in March this year that 1994 revenues would reach $4.9 billion, with roughly 25,000 employees (excluding subsidiaries).
York International is the world’s largest publicly traded company specializing exclusively in refrigeration equipment; founded in 1874, it experienced financial difficulties during the early 1980s and was briefly owned by the Borg-Warner Group before becoming an independent corporation later that decade. York has seen rapid growth recently: its sales rose from $620 million in 1985 to $1.65 billion in 1991, reaching $24.22 billion in 1994—a 19% increase over 1992 figures. Ranked 462nd among America’s top 500 corporations per Fortune magazine’s 1994 list, York reported net profits of $90 million, employed 15,900 staff members, and held total assets worth $588 million. York began manufacturing centrifugal chillers in 1954; based on aggregate cooling capacity, it remains the world’s top producer of such units. Its specialized industrial-grade centrifugal chillers, developed two decades ago, currently face no significant international competition. York was also the first global firm to experimentally test and commercially deploy centrifugal chillers utilizing R-123 as a refrigerant; as early as October 1987, York’s R-123-based models successfully completed factory operational trials and compatibility tests, subsequently being installed at York’s headquarters and DuPont’s facilities. York offers an extensive range of centrifugal chillers, having developed variants using R-123, R-134, R-22, ammonia, and other refrigerants to cater to diverse client needs. Since last year, it has additionally introduced large-capacity centrifugal chillers powered by gas turbines.
Trane was established in 1893 by James Trane and his son Reuben Trane; in 1938, the firm manufactured the world’s inaugural fully enclosed centrifugal chiller assembly.
Shenyu Pump, and Siemens in Huludao.
Reply to 4# luhongtai: Ammonia refrigeration compressors, also known as chillers, come in centrifugal and screw types
The centrifugal compressors we use are from Shenhua Gear, while the steam turbines are from Hangzhou Steam Turbine.
Shenmu, Chongqing General, Shaanxi Gas Turbine, Jinxī Chemical Machinery – all can do it
There are only a few companies in China capable of manufacturing centrifugal ammonia compressors; as far as I know, only Shengli Steam Turbine & Power Group and Shaanxi Gas Turbine Group can do this. I don’t know much about products from abroad; I have always supported domestic products. Large ammonia centrifuges are still an advantage of SHENGU!