Propane-Based HVAC Units for European Trains on Display at InnoTrans 2024

Several manufacturers brought R290 (propane)-based HVAC units for passenger trains to InnoTrans 2024, held September 24–27 in Berlin.

InnoTrans is an international trade show focusing on freight and passenger rail and public buses held every two years in Berlin. According to the organizers, the 2024 show hosted 2,940 exhibitors and attracted more than 170,000 visitors.

Exhibitors were advertising propane-based HVAC units for city, regional and long-distance trains. CO₂ (R744) was also present at the show, with the Škoda Group showing off a newly built tram equipped with an R744 HVAC unit.

City trains: Japanese OEM Mitsubishi Electric recently announced that its Italian subsidiary, Mitsubishi Electric Klimat Transportation Systems, received an order for 1,350 propane-based HVAC units from Siemens Mobility. The units will be installed on trains running on Munich’s city line.

• Duke Koch, Key Account Manager Transportation Systems at Mitsubishi Electric, told NaturalRefrigerants.com during an interview at InnoTrans that the company is actively working to get its R290 HVAC units into more trains and is working to form partnerships with railcar manufacturers such as the Switzerland-based Stadler.
• “[Train operators] are very interested in HVAC with propane because the refrigerant is environmentally friendly,” Koch said. “That’s the biggest driver for them. I think all new projects will go with propane, especially in [Central] Europe.”

Regional and long-distance trains: Rexxon, a German manufacturer of air-conditioning and air-treatment systems for trains, had a roof-mounted R290-based HVAC unit for regional and long-distance trains at its booth. The Rexxon unit has a Dorin compressor and a propane charge of 2.3kg.

• The unit at the show was a prototype, according to Christian Magnus, Electrotechnical Designer. Magnus told NaturalRefrigerants.com that the unit would undergo field testing soon – lasting three to six months – and that production will begin in early 2025.
• Magnus said Rexxon chose to work with propane over CO₂ because of costs, specifically the cost of building CO₂ equipment testing rooms.
• While Rexxon’s R290 roof-mounted HVAC unit was built for the European market, Magnus noted that East Bay Area Rapid Transit (eBART) in Antioch, California, had expressed interest in the units. The eBART operates light rail trains.

CO₂ HVAC for trams: The Škoda Group, a Czech Republic-based manufacturer of trams and trains that is unaffiliated with the car company of the same name, brought a new tram to InnoTrans 2024 equipped with a CO₂-based HVAC system.

• The tram was built for the city of Bonn, Germany, and features a CO₂ heat pump supplied by Konvekta. The German manufacturer of mobile air-conditioning (MAC) systems supplies CO₂ heat pumps for electric buses.
• Steffen Schade, Senior Sales Manager for Rail Air-Conditioning at Konvekta, told NaturalRefrigerants.com that the company is also supplying CO₂ heat pumps for new trams being built for the city of Würzburg, Germany, by German light rail manufacturer HeiterBlick.

Propane for battery cooling: Sascha Koller, Business Development Manager at Technotrans, a German company that develops battery-cooling technology for trains and buses, told NaturalRefrigerants.com that customers have been asking for natural refrigerant products.

• Koller said the company is in discussions with transit authorities in the U.S. to retrofit tram battery cooling systems using its R290-based technology. He added that a similar project in Vancouver may end up using the same technology.

From refrigeration to rail: Italian compressor manufacturer Dorin and Italian refrigeration components supplier OLAB were both at InnoTrans.

• Adrian Muresan, Account Manager at Dorin, told NaturalRefrigerants.com that Dorin supplies CO₂ and propane compressors for train HVAC systems. He said MAC is a growing sector of the company that currently makes up around 10% of its business.
• Alberto Bottura, Co-Owner and Managing Director of OLAB, told NaturalRefrigerants.com that the company is interested in bringing its valves to rail MAC systems and that it sees propane as the “future” of the industry.