Hillphoenix is aiming to cut down lead times and lower the total cost of ownership for end users with its new industrial rack platform for transcritical CO2 (R744), according to Ousama Sabra, Industrial Sales Manager East at the company.
Sabra shared details about the American OEM’s new rack platform, dubbed AdvansorUltra, during an interview with NaturalRefrigerants.com at the 2026 IIAR Expo, held March 15–18 in San Antonio, Texas.
“Growing platforms is quicker,” Sabra said. “We can pre-manufacture all the sub-assemblies and wiring harnesses. Everything is at hand. The end product is at a much better price when it comes to platforms rather than having an engineered-to-order product.”
Sabra also said Hillphoenix is using advanced manufacturing technologies to produce the AdvansorUltra. He specifically noted that the number of welds per rack has been reduced.
“Instead of having a pipe bend, you have a pre-bent pipe with no elbow,” Sabra said. “Instead of having pre-welding joints for a T, you have what we call a ‘pulled hole,’ and then you weld the pipe directly into it. Instead of three welding points, you have one.”
The AdvansorUltra was officially launched at the 2025 RETA National Conference in Spokane, Washington, and offers up to 450TR (1,583kW) of medium-temperature (MT) cooling capacity per rack. Its maximum low-temperature (LT) capacity is 270TR (950kW), and its maximum capacity mixing for MT and LT is 320TR (1,125kW).
“The end product is at a much better price when it comes to platforms rather than having an engineered-to-order product.”
Ousama Sabra,
Industrial Sales Manager East at Hillphoenix
A growing market
Hillphoenix is forecasting “a significant increase” in demand for industrial CO2 racks in the U.S.. Although there is a “fair spread” of demand, Sabra said it’s highest on the coasts. In terms of where that demand is coming from, he said the AdvansorUltra covers 95% of market requirements from a feature standpoint for cold storage, including pharmaceuticals and food processing.
“We’re standardizing all features so we can provide people with what they need based on their requirements,” Sabra said.
The AdvansorUltra’s launch comes during a period of growth in the industrial transcritical CO2 market in North America. In December 2024, there were 870 locations in North America using transcritical CO2, according to ATMOsphere’s “Natural Refrigerants: State of the Industry 2024” report.
The 870 locations represent a 74% year-over-year increase and signal a consistent market demand for transcritical CO2 systems. The growth underscores the importance of having solutions that can reduce costs and simplify delivery times as adoption continues to expand.
