Page 8 - Climate Control News Magazine June 2022

News
Robert Bosch global headquarters.
Bosch declares 2022 year of the heat pump
AGC claims world first in refrigerant research
JAPANESE CHEMICAL MANUFACTURER,
AGC, has developed the world’s first fluorinated refrigerant for air conditioners with a GWP be- low 10.
The company said it is working with the Uni- versity of Tokyo on the refrigerant which is in the final stages of development.
AGC said AMOLEA 1123 (HFO-1123) will be the next-generation standard for air conditioners.
“AGC is on track to resolve the safety issue that had been one of the challenges for the practical application of AMOLEA 1123, and the develop- ment of the world’s first refrigerant with GWP below 10,” the company said in a statement.
“The University of Tokyo and AGC have suc- ceeded in developing a safe composition that suppresses the rapid pressure increase due to the decomposition of AMOLEA 1123 to a cer- tain level by adding propane, based on the find- ings of the NEDO project (which was undertak- en in 2014).
The new composition of AMOLEA 1123 has a GWP 0.3 or greenhouse effect of 1/3 of CO2. It consists of a certain percentage of propane (R290: GWP 3 or greenhouse effect of 3 times of CO2), which is a versatile refrigerant with low GWP.
“With this achievement, the development of a refrigerant with a GWP of 10 or less has made significant progress and entered the final stage,” AGC said.
Based on the results of this development, AGC will launch new refrigerants with ultra-low GWP and high safety, for use in residential and com- mercial air conditioners.
It will also be used as a next-generation refrig- erant for electric vehicles.
AGC’s net zero building in Japan.
ROBERT BOSCH GMBH HAS INCREASED SALES 5.2 PER CENT IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2022.
A MEMBER OF the board of management and chief financial officer of Robert Bosch, Dr Markus Forschner, said the company is off to a solid start.
“At present, we expect to exceed the six per cent sales growth forecast in our annual report,” he said. Forschner said the cost of energy, raw materi- als and logistics has made it a challenging busi-
ness environment.
He said cost pressures are very high with
prices for certain raw materials almost tripling since 2020.
“We must prepare for continued high prices and very volatile markets,” Forschner said.
“Bosch will rise to the challenge of this diffi- cult phase; what’s important here is to have pio- neering products and a clear long-term strategic focus and we have both.”
Deputy chair of the company’s board of man- agement, Dr Christian Fischer, said more than one third of carbon emissions are from buildings.
“The transition to alternative heating starts with the heat pump, ideally powered by green electricity,” Fischer said.
Increasingly the legal requirements for new buildings around the world reflect this. For example, 65 per cent of new heating sys- tems will have to be powered by renewables by 2024.
Bosch will invest an additional $US315.9 mil- lion in the heat-pump business by mid-decade.
“The market will grow by an annual 15 to 20 per cent between now and 2025. We aim to grow twice as fast as the market,” Fischer said.
Robotics precinct to advance AI
MONASH UNIVERSITY FACULTY of Engi- neering has launched a new world-class robotics research facility to train the next generation of engineers and global innovators, and drive the emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) economy.
The $6.5 million dollar investment into the Monash Robotics lab furthers the work of Monash University in the development of a
world-leading robotics precinct, which in- cludes the Makerspace, Monash Smart Manu-
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Elizabeth Croft.
facturing Hub, Data Futures Institute and Monash Generator.
Monash University president and vice-chan- cellor Professor Margaret Gardner said the launch of the research facility is an important step in advancing AI knowledge and innovation.
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Elizabeth Croft, said the innovative lab will fos- ter collaboration and effective robotics develop- ment, providing experimental space and equip- ment to enable realistic experimental validation.
Robotics deployment across the world is ris- ing rapidly, with the International Federation of Robotics reporting that three million indus- trial robots were operating in factories around the world in 2021.
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