Volkswagen, Ford Motor, DENSO, Deutsche Bahn and Hanon Systems all took the stage during the first day of the ATMOsphere (ATMO) MAC Summit 2024 × TU Berlin.
ATMOsphere, the publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com, is hosting its first event focused exclusively on air-conditioning and heat pump systems for mobile applications. It is presented in partnership with TU Berlin’s Department of Heat Transfer and Heat Conversion and is being held on the university’s campus.
The summit kicked off with a keynote by Professor Stefan Elbel, the Head of TU Berlin’s Department of Heat Transfer and Heat Conversion. Elbel compared and contrasted CO2 (R744) and propane (R290) systems and explored ways to improve performance for both types.
“Time will tell which one is the better option, propane or CO2,” Elbel said. “From an environmental standpoint, though, you could say it doesn’t matter as both are great options.”
Elbel’s presentation was followed up by keynotes from some of the automotive industry’s biggest names: Volkswagen and Ford Motor.
NatRefs in cars
Volkswagen’s work with CO2 (R744) heat pumps was detailed during a presentation by Felix Nowak-Walenta, Thermal Management Test Engineer, and Carsten Wachsmuth, Research and Development. The pair gave attendees a deep dive into Volkswagen’s R744 heat pump, used in many of the automaker’s battery electric vehicles (BEVs), detailing its operation modes and components as well as strategies to increase efficiency.
Several Volkswagen electric vehicles feature CO2 heat pumps, and the company has committed to using R744 in all of its BEV heat pumps by 2030. Volkswagen is currently the only automaker with such plans, and Nowak-Walenta touched on one of the biggest challenges of being a first mover in the industry.
“If you’re the first to do something, the price and suppliers aren’t there yet,” Nowak-Walenta said. “We’re fighting an uphill battle in terms of price, but we’re hoping to convince others that we’re on the right track so that they can follow us or even surpass us.”
Nowak-Walenta and Wachsmuth were followed by Angelo Patti, Product Development Engineer at Ford Motor, and Dr. Werner Hünemörder, Senior Technical Manager and Advanced Systems R&D at DENSO.
The automaker announced it is designing a full-secondary loop propane heat pump for its battery electric vehicles with DENSO, calling the product a “global solution for all regions” and R290 “the best refrigerant for next-generation thermal architecture” for battery electric vehicles.
“We’re looking for a global solution, and R290 seems to be the best suited from a thermal standpoint,” Patti said. “We’re making a SNAP submission to the EPA this month to use R290 in automotive heat pumps.”
In addition to propane, Ford has also worked with CO2 in MAC; its new Electric Explorer SUV is available in Europe with an optional R744 heat pump.
NatRefs in trains
Moving from cars to trains, Deutsche Bahn’s keynote detailed its initial findings on the operation and maintenance of propane HVAC units in passenger rail cars, which was given by Peter Danzer, Project Leader.
Along with sharing Deutsche Bahn’s experience maintaining the units, Danzer also shared that by 2027, the German train company expects to have more than 2,000 R290 rail HVAC units, manufactured by rail OEM Wabtec, in operation on passenger trains.
“Wabtec is a pioneer in developing this system, and we’re proud to be using it,” Danzer said.
Danzer presented last year at the ATMO Europe Summit 2023, held in Brussels, about Deutsche Bahn’s work with both CO2 and R290 HVAC systems. During that event, Danzer said the train company sourced R290 units from rail equipment manufacturer Faiveley Transport (Wabtec), which it trialed from 2020–2021. The units have been in regular operation since 2023.
Comparison test
South Korean automotive components supplier Hanon Systems – the event’s gold sponsor – closed the first day of the ATMO MAC Summit 2024 × TU Berlin with a technology case study.
The presentation by Dr. Roman Heckt, Global Chief Engineer for Natural Refrigerant Systems, focused on a comparison test between a full-secondary loop R290 heat pump and a CO2 heat pump, with both units installed in a Volkswagen ID.3. The test, conducted in hot and cold climates, resulted in CO2 coming out on top.
Hanon announced in January that it had manufactured more than 500,000 CO2 compressors for electric vehicle (EV) heat pumps, which Heckt said has since increased to “more than 700,000.”
“In 2023, there were about 1.5 million electrified vehicles sold in Europe, and of that about 150,000 were equipped with our CO2 systems,” Heckt said.
Day two of the ATMO MAC Summit 2024 × TU Berlin will feature policy discussions led by the DG Klima of the European Commission and ChemSec, technology case studies and a presentation from the Dongfeng Motor Group, one of China’s largest automakers.
