Hansen to target low-charge ammonia in China in 2019

U.S.-based OEM Hansen Technologies said it is focused on growing its business in China by focusing on low-charge ammonia systems in 2019.

"Our focus in China will be on low-charge ammonia systems — specifically ammonia direct expansion at both low and medium temperatures — in 2019," Hansen's Chuck Chen, who is based in Hansen's Shanghai office, told this website by email.

"Technically speaking, if you design a low-charge ammonia system, you have to remove all water that is mixed in with the ammonia," Chen said. "Hansen has had its Auto-Purger systems, designed for this purpose, for many years."

"Also, Hansen’s motorised control valves are the best valves for ammonia injection to an evaporator," he added.

Asked if the company had received any inquiries from its customers in China about low-charge ammonia systems, Chen replied, "Yes, in fact, we are fighting for some low-charge ammonia projects with our contractor customers right now".

Hansen Technologies, which is very active in the North American market for ammonia and low-charge ammonia systems (the company supplied its pulse-width thermal expansion valves for U.S.-based Liberty Cold Storage's low-charge ammonia installation in 2018), first opened its office in Shanghai, China in 2002, according to Chen.

The company has been mainly doing business in the high-end industrial refrigeration market in China, but has seen "increasingly strict restrictions on ammonia systems by local governments," he said.

Chen said that one of the biggest barriers holding back the advancement of ammonia systems in China right now is the "professional quality of the whole industry in China, since it is still a developing country".