Unicla turns heads at Busworld Kortrijk (Belgium) with two world firsts
Two ground-breaking air conditioning compressors – both world firsts – were unveiled by Unicla International at the biggest bus and coach expo on earth at Busworld Kortrijk in late October 2017. One was the UWX660 that is now ready for market, and the other a powerful electric drive, called the eDrive, that is going through its final development and testing phases.
The Unicla team, headed by Global Marketing and Technical Support Director Mr Mark Mitchell, showed the whole range of Unicla compressors for bus and coach applications including the UP200, UX330 and UX380 series.
While this is not the first time Unicla has shown at Busworld, usually only one or two models are featured.
‘It was good to have the whole family of Unicla compressors on the stand, enabling us to demonstrate specific models for specific customers,’ said Mr Mitchell. ‘As a result, we managed to meet with an estimated 200 customers and potential customers, from 17 countries. It was a very busy and productive time for Unicla and it marked a significant turning point in our technologies.’
The UWX660 compressor, with a capacity of 675cc, is the largest 14 cylinder swashplate compressor in the world.
The smooth running, quiet and powerful compressor, suitable for larger rooftop units with open drive, and requiring 32 kW to 35 kW power, has been two years in development and is now ready for market.
The UWX660 is also suited to large marine and industrial equipment applications, and has been validated for low temperature refrigerants R404a and R452a, as well as the standard R134a.
But it was the eDrive that was the biggest head-turner.
On display for the first time was a model of one of the new six eDrive models to be released by Unicla during 2018 and 2019.
The eDrive will use the tried and tested Unicla swashplate technology, coupled to a special electric motor developed by Unicla.
No other details are being released at this time, but the market will be kept informed of its progress through the final testing and development stages.
Leading engineers who visited the Unicla stand were surprised that 32 kilowatts of power could be packed into such a compact compressor.
The showing of both compressors is the ultimate validation of Unicla’s unique design ability, perfected over the past decade, to pack so much power and performance into such small packages.
‘We have known for years since the advent of the electric city bus that the focus should be on size and weight in compressor design. Unicla’s existing technology that produces small size, light-weight compressors fits perfectly for homologation with an electric drive,’ Mr Mitchell added.
The Unicla team once again joined forces on the Busworld stand with colleagues from Burgaflex Europe who are Unicla’s preferred multi-refrigerant hose supplier and partner in the Asia Pacific and China regions
