Thermo King introduces the new light-weight X900 rooftop unit for bus and coach
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
With a major focus on unit weight reduction, Thermo Kings engineering team combined
theory, innovation and out-of-the-box thinking to create the new X900. The
innovative X900 weighs in at a mere 130 kg, capacity of 35 kW, and features a
greener, reduced refrigerant charge of 3 kg.
In developing the X900, it was foreseen that in some
installations customers may wish to have the condenser section pointed to the
rear of the bus and not to the front. This orientation, along with the return
air opening and refrigerant and water connection positioning, required less
modification to the bus roof structure of some existing bus designs. To ensure
that this orientation would not create issues of hot air from the condenser
coil re-entering the air intake of the condenser, Thermo Kings global team
conducted simulation testing.
Our innovative teams from Europe and India aligned
and worked together on computer simulations that investigated the airflow
around the unit while the bus travelled at different speeds, explained Thomas
Reitz, HVAC engineering manager, bus & rail, ESA (European Served Area).
The simulations, which were done at different blower speeds, proved that there
were no remarkable temperature increases at the air intake temperature of the
condenser. Basically, we proved that the new orientation of the components
would not limit the maximum operating conditions for the unit.