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Tag: Trane Technologies

Sustainable and Efficient Cold Chain Innovation

Posted on by David Priestman

Thermo King®, a leader in transport temperature control solutions and a brand of Trane Technologies, will showcase its latest refrigerated container solutions at Intermodal Europe 2024 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from November 12th to 14th. The innovations on display at Thermo King’s stand (B20) focus on enhancing efficiency and sustainability in cold chain transport, meeting the needs of shipping lines, intermodal and stationary applications to reduce food loss and carbon emissions.

“Cold chain integrity while minimizing carbon footprint and energy consumption, are key trends shaping the transport and logistics sector,” said Claudio Zanframundo, president Thermo King EMEA Truck, Trailer, Bus and Global Marine, Rail, Air. “We protect temperature-sensitive cargo at every stage of transport, whether by road, rail, or sea. Thermo King is driving the transformation of cold chain logistics by delivering solutions that meet current and future stringent environmental standards, helping our customers achieve sustainability goals without compromising operations. By innovating, we ensure reliable performance, reduce food loss, and support a more sustainable cold chain.”

Thermo King will introduce several key advancements tailored to the needs of marine and intermodal transport:

• MP-5000 Controller
The MP-5000 controller for Thermo King’s Container Fresh and Frozen (CFF) and Magnum Plus reefer units provides an intuitive, logic-driven user interface with Bluetooth connectivity for two-way communication. This system simplifies operator interactions, giving greater control and allowing for remote monitoring. The MP-5000 also includes energy logging as a standard feature, enabling users to track both kWh consumption and CO2 emissions for each voyage. With PT-1000 temperature sensors, the controller delivers best-in-class temperature accuracy, ensuring cargo protection, while also reducing the total cost of ownership.

• TK Active Fresh – Active Controlled Atmosphere
Showcased for the first time at Intermodal 2024, the TK Active Fresh solution is designed to maintain optimal conditions for high-respiration cargo, such as fresh produce, during long-haul transport. Using a nitrogen membrane, the system actively controls oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels inside refrigerated containers, ensuring the cargo stays in optimal conditions throughout its journey. The systems features fast oxygen pull-down at 28 liters per minute with nitrogen purity of 95%, effectively slowing down the respiration of fresh produce, improving quality and extending its shelf life.

With superior ventilation rate removing excessive CO2 at 90 liters per minute, exporters can confidently transport their goods over long distances with minimal food loss, ensuring the highest product quality upon arrival.

• E-COOLPAC – Battery Power for Reefer Containers
Thermo King will also showcase the E-COOLPAC, an advanced battery-powered solution designed for refrigerated marine containers when not connected to grid or vessel power. Available in flexible configurations ranging from 35kWh to 105kWh, the E-COOLPAC offers a sustainable alternative to diesel gensets. It can be fitted or retrofitted to marine container chassis, and is compatible with Thermo King CFF and Magnum Plus refrigeration units, as well as other ISO1496-2 reefer units. E-COOLPAC helps transporters reduce emissions, comply with regulations, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

Thermo King CFF and Advancer Refrigeration Units

Visitors to the Thermo King stand will also see the proven CFF refrigeration unit offering industry-standard set-point range from -30°C to +30°C. The CFF is culmination of Thermo King’s extensive container refrigeration knowledge acquired from the intermodal use of reefer units on rough roads and seas. The CFF provides optimal COP (Coefficient of Performance), air management and temperature control accuracy of +/- 0.25°C in chilled mode and +/- 1°C in frozen mode. The CFF responds to customer needs to reduce energy cost, increase sustainability, support IMO requirements to log power consumption and achieve low total cost of ownership.

Thermo King will also showcase the Advancer Intermodal refrigeration unit, tailored for rail, road, and short-sea shipments. This unit offers market-leading performance in terms of fuel efficiency, temperature control, and connectivity. Thermo King’s telematics systems enable remote monitoring, and two-way communication, allowing customers to benefit from the ThermoKare 24/7 Fleet Monitoring service. This central monitoring solution from Thermo King combines real-time monitoring of the refrigerated fleet, remote-diagnosis and proactive support performed around the clock by Thermo King experts.

Additionally, the Advancer is compatible with alternative power sources, including the Thermo King AxlePower smart energy recovery system, which harvests energy from the chassis’ axle to power the refrigeration unit.

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Trailer Refrigeration Taken to Next Level with Advancer, Claims Thermo King

 

Collaboration to Transform Cold Chain Transport

Posted on by David Priestman

Trane Technologies, parent company of Thermo King, reinforced the essential need to decarbonize and transform the commercial transport industry and cold chain and called for quick action and greater collaboration at the GCCA European Cold Chain Conference in Brussels to ensure widespread adoption of technologies that reduce carbon emissions and improve efficiency.

“We believe that our industry can make a significant impact on global greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the areas of heating and cooling and food loss,” said Claudio Zanframundo (pictured), president, Thermo King EMEA, Trane Technologies. “Decarbonization and transformation of the commercial transport industry and cold chain is possible, and it requires all of us to act together, to adopt the new technologies, including electrification and energy recovery solutions, to radically reduce emissions for a better planet for future generations.”

Trane Technologies’ Thermo King® brand is one of the leading providers of connected active temperature-controlled transport solutions in the cold chain industry. With a focus on precision cooling and digital advancements, Thermo King® is driving the shift toward electric refrigeration and energy recovery solutions in commercial transport. In November 2023, the company announced it fulfilled its August 2021 commitment to deliver fully electric, zero direct emission refrigeration solutions for every segment of the cold chain in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region by 2023.

Examples of these solutions include the E-Series, an innovative and future-proof electric refrigeration unit designed for sustainable operations in urban and inner-city areas. The E-Series is connected and powered directly by the vehicle’s battery, delivering optimal temperature-control performance with reduced energy consumption.

Another example is AxlePower, a revolutionary fully electric trailer refrigeration and energy recovery solution that eliminates the need for fuel consumption and increases uptime. The AxlePower energy recovery solution operates by harnessing the kinetic energy from the vehicle’s movement, such as braking and coasting, and stores it in a high-voltage battery. It can be used with both fully electric and hybrid vehicles and has been extensively tested and adopted by customers worldwide, with successful implementations from Belgium to South Africa.

Thermo King® recognizes the need to keep investing in innovation for the cold chain because of the potential to reduce emissions, but also because it plays a critical role in feeding society. Roughly 30% of the food produced worldwide is lost every year, before reaching consumers, largely due to uncontrolled environments and disruptions in the cold chain. Partnering with retailers, non-profits and the European Commission to reduce food waste, we recently co-developed a roundtable at the European Parliament to help accelerate progress and get more people taking action. The session was aligned to the EU’s commitment of meeting SDG 12.3 of halving per capita global food loss and waste by 2030.

Through bold, industry-leading action, Trane Technologies is advancing its 2030 Sustainability Commitments, including the Gigaton Challenge – a pledge to reduce customer greenhouse gas emissions by 1 billion metric tons (or, one gigaton) – and its pledge to be net-zero by 2050. In 2014, the company set its first science-based 2020 Climate Commitments – accelerating innovation to achieve them two years ahead of schedule. The company is first in its industry with near and long-term emissions reduction targets externally validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

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New Telematics System Offered to Food Sector Cold Chain Operators

 

Telematics Connectivity for Vehicle-Powered Units

Posted on by David Priestman

Thermo King®, a leader in transport temperature control solutions and a brand of Trane Technologies, has announced its new BlueBox Lite telematics device designed to enhance the connectivity of the vehicle-powered refrigeration units.

With the BlueBox Lite device the customers now get a more cost-efficient way to obtain not only the temperature and position data, but also critical information from the vehicle-powered refrigeration units’ control system like setpoints, alarms or hours of operation. BlueBox Lite features 4G connectivity allowing customers to easily access the data through the Thermo King TracKing™ web portal, TK Reefer or integrate it with a third-party platform or back-end system.

“Connectivity is something not to be missed for companies looking to improve the efficiency of their cold chain operations,” said Mike McEnnis, Portfolio Leader Product Management. “By introducing the BlueBox Lite telematics device for our V-Series, VX-Series and B-Series range we want to make it easier for our customers to take advantage of the data and make their operations smarter. The BlueBox Lite is a plug-and-play, 4G solution that gives them a cost-efficient and easy way to receive real time intelligence on the operation of their refrigerated vehicle.”

Other key features of the Thermo King BlueBox Lite device include:

– Near real-time data access thanks to the five-minute logging interval availability for improved response times
– Plug-and-play solution reducing the installation time, with no requirement for a separate DataLogger to get the temperature data. Unlike other telematics solutions with temperature probes, the BlueBox Lite is easily installed and connected directly to the refrigeration units’ controller
– EN12830 compatible solution if combined with the optional TouchLog datalogger
– 2-way command for SetPoint change to allow remote control of the load temperature

Thermo King – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – is a worldwide leader in sustainable transport temperature control solutions. Thermo King has been providing transport temperature control solutions for a variety of applications, including trailers, truck bodies, buses, air, shipboard containers and railway cars since 1938.

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