Food, pharmaceuticals, plants, medicines, blood, chemicals, photographic film, art work, and explosives can all be sensitive to variation in temperature during transportation between producer and consumer. VARTA Storage GmbH is partnering with Abatec GmbH to provide tailored solutions to the market leaders in this emerging market segment.

Left picture: VARTA AG, Right picture: Abatec GmbH

New laws will require new solutions for temperature controlled transportation of products

Legislation is currently under consideration in California where they feel the need to reduce public health risk from Transport Refrigeration Units (TRU) near distribution centres and other facilities where TRU's congregate. The Legislation sets targets for achieving emission reductions while in transit, improving freight efficiency and transitioning to zero- or near-zero emission technologies, which will help reduce toxic air contaminant emissions, criteria pollutant emissions and Green House Gas emissions.  

TRU's are currently defined as refrigeration systems that are powered by internal combustion engines. They control the environment of temperature-sensitive products that are transported in refrigerated trucks, trailers, railcars and shipping containers. They may be capable of cooling or heating. Some companies also use TRUs for extended cold storage during the four- to six-week period before public holidays and major events as way of increasing cold storage capacity, to support these holidays / events.  Distribution centres and other cold storage facilities also attract large volumes of TRU's that contribute to higher localized health risk to the nearby communities. 

The new regulation is seeking to develop concepts to reduce emissions from facilities with TRU activity by transitioning to zero-emission operation where it is practical to do so. It is very likely that by 2025 legislation will be in place not only in California but worldwide requiring delivery trucks to have their vehicle idling limited with their engine on, with further vision for zero-emission trucks across the whole segment.

While there will be a variety of solutions along the supply chain and each market segment will require different technology to achieve the required result there can be no doubt that battery operated refrigeration and heating systems most likely in a hybrid format with the existing diesel generator will play a significant role.

Electric refrigeration systems powered by lithium-ion batteries have a lot of advantages compared to traditional mechancial units

Battery powered electric refrigeration units offer significant advantages over traditional motor based units: Battery systems reduce the need for engine maintenance, liquid fuels, and oil lubricants – saving substantially on time and repair costs, while improving up-time and reliability. No leaking fuel or oil lines to worry about, no tank mounting issues. Using electrical refrigeration systems vs. traditional mechanical units also reduces noise and emissions, increases reliability, and improves total lifetime.An electric refrigeration unit can be switched on and off quickly and efficiently, without starting lag or warm-up required by diesel engine-based systems. Battery systems offer always available up-time with virtually no maintenance. Best of all, battery systems do not generate excess heat associated with traditional engine systems, allowing for more efficient packaging and thermal management.

Matching the size of the battery to the refrigeration unit requirements is much easier as well: A diesel engine has a large foot-print for the power output required and size options are limited to a few standard engine sizes. Battery systems can be sized to cover exactly the requirements of the refrigeration units and can be modular in design so that additional run-time can be easily added. Recent electric vehicle improvements have ruggedized battery systems for vehicle systems – there are now millions of cars, trucks, and busses with battery powered electric systems in operation with a great safety record.

Replenishing a battery electric refrigeration energy can be accomplished via external charging, such as at a loading depot or at an un-loading site. But re-charging can also occur using the extra energy provided by the vehicle’s main engine during road transportation. Lithium battery systems have the unique ability to be opportunity charged at any time, not just when fully depleted. And battery powered systems can take advantage of excess energy available – such as when the truck is on a downhill gradient when the propulsion engine is under-utilized.

VARTA Storage and Abatec combine their strengths to design and manufacture turnkey solutions for manufacturers of TGU's

VARTA Storage has a long and diverse experience in the application of Lithium Ion Batteries (LiB) and for the last 20 years has been designing customised LiB solutions starting with mobile phones, through to power tools, garden tools and domestic appliances to robotics, material handling to forklift trucks and other single people movers. Through this experience VARTA have developed a well-defined highly efficient process that allows them to very clearly define what is required of the battery in terms of chemistry, mechanical & thermal design together with the relevant Battery Management System (BMS) and associated other hardware & software necessary to interface the battery to the rest of the system.

Abatec GmbH will complement VARTA with their wide experience in development and production of electronic high-tech solutions in the industrial and automotive segments. Specifically Abatec has over 29 year experience in the development and production of high quality automotive grade electronics, as well as over 20 year experience in the design and manufacture of temperature monitoring and control systems.

Both companies have state-of-the-art factories in Europe and use the latest technologies. 
Left picture: VARTA's highly automated  factory in Brasov, Romania
Right picture: Abatec's modern factory in Regau, Austria
 

This combination of VARTA & Abatec allows the partnership to offer manufacturers of TGU’s a complete turnkey solution that is designed and manufactured to their exact requirements and to positioning VARTA & Abatec as a market leader and to offer their customers a complete zero emissions TGU across jurisdictions before being required to do so by law.

In order to take advantage of this offer please contact either VARTA or Abatec directly where we will be pleased to work together with you to create a detailed specification for your system and to follow this with a detailed proposal on how we can deliver your system in high volume.

If you’re interested in a custom or standard VARTA battery solutions and charger systems, please contact:

VARTA Europe: power@varta-storage.com or +49 9081 240 86 60
VARTA US: asb@varta-storage.com or +1.914.727.6226
Abatec: Jürgen Sams, j.sams@abatec.at or +43 7672 27720 537

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