A new round of transformation and upgrading of the HVAC industry

With the continuous emergence of new technologies and new application scenarios, the heating and cooling industry has not only brought many market opportunities in segmented tracks, but also given rise to brand new challenges. So, how will the companies in it cope with the challenges and realize value growth? Recently, I had the honor to interview Mr. Yin Guangwen, Vice President of Copeland China, and through in-depth communication with him, it may reveal the latest industry trends and brand innovation practices under the wave of the times.

In the wave of globalization, sustainable development has become a common focus of attention for all countries. As one of the key technology paths for the heating and cooling industry, sustainable development is also an important catalyst for industrial change and comprehensive upgrading of the industry chain. The proposal of “dual-carbon” goal also brings new opportunities and challenges to the heating and cooling industry, and pushes the industry to develop in a more efficient and healthier direction.

In Mr. Yin Guangwen's opinion, Copeland's product concept and development direction coincide with the national “dual-carbon” policy and sustainable development. "Copeland's products have been widely used in commercial and residential buildings, cold chain transportation, food drying and other fields with excellent advantages of high efficiency and stability, low carbon and energy saving. Copeland will continue to support the energy transition in HVACR and industrial applications, accelerate the adoption of environmentally friendly low GWP refrigerants, and promote the trend of inverterization and single-unit cooling, so as to provide the whole industrial chain with more valuable overall solution."

With the successive formulation and release of industry energy-efficiency standards such as Green Building Evaluation Standards (GB/T 50378-2019), Data Center Energy Efficiency Limit Values and Energy Efficiency Ratings (GB 40879-2021), and Energy Efficiency Limit Values and Energy Efficiency Ratings for Heat Pumps and Chiller Units (GB 19577-2024), industry energy-efficiency standards, including water chillers, heat pumps heating units, machine room air conditioners and Condensing units, including industrial and commercial heating and cooling products, energy efficiency upgrade, the use of frequency conversion technology to improve system energy efficiency has become a general trend. According to the latest statistics from Industry Online, from 2018 to 2023, the inverterization rate of China's scroll compressors will rapidly climb from 18.9% to 34.2%, and this proportion is still rising.
 

“Currently, we can provide a full range of variable capacity regulation solutions including inverter, digital and fixed speed, which are widely used in energy storage, data center, chiller, commercial heating, industrial heat pump and other segments, providing flexible and differentiated choices for industrial customers.” Mr. Yin Guangwen introduced, “For the commercial heat pump field, we launched a 130cc central heating variable frequency solution, which adopts Copeland 25HP ultra-low-temperature variable frequency scroll compressor, according to Copeland's internal laboratory data shows that its evaporation temperature can be as low as -40 ℃, and optimized the design of the variable frequency scroll and the VCR valve, to meet the demand for multi-purpose use of the machine, and the fixed-speed compressor can be connected in parallel; for the baking compressor, it can be connected in parallel with the fixed-speed compressor. Parallel connection with fixed-speed compressor is optional; for the drying field, we have launched the Copeland digital scroll compressor for drying to realize precise temperature control; for the air-conditioning modular water machine field, we have launched the Copeland 110cc air-conditioning inverter total solution, which can be connected in parallel with fixed-speed/inverter compressor to flexibly expand the range of capacity; for the commercial refrigeration field, we have launched the Spirit Freeze digital condensing unit, which uses the patented digital regulation technology and jet enrichment technology, and can be used in the commercial refrigeration field, we have launched the Spirit Freeze digital condensing unit. and Jet Enhancement Technology, which can significantly improve the operating efficiency of the unit in medium and low temperature working conditions ......"

As the internal and external sales markets continue to diverge and develop, Copeland is also at the forefront of large cooling capacity technology for scroll compressors. Copeland's newly released 50HP large scroll compressor solution is the latest result of Copeland's continuous exploration of more industry possibilities and the provision of new technology paths for large cooling capacity systems. The program's cooling capacity covers 40HP and 50HP, and there are parallel connection options. After Copeland's actual operation calculations, two pairs of parallel 50HP Big Scroll compressors can help OEMs develop 600kW heat pump products, with a system cost 15-20% lower than that of a traditional screw*.