Just right for CO₂: BITZER WGC gas coolers

Sindelfingen, 13.10.2020. BITZER’s WGC shell and tube gas cooler – which is designed for transcritical CO₂ applications – has 120-bar design pressure and ensures high resistance to pressure/thermal fatigue. The WGC can be used as a gas cooler, a heat recovery exchanger and a condenser.

The BITZER WGC is a new family of liquid-cooled heat exchangers with several sizes and lengths which can typically be used in commercial and light industrial refrigeration. This heat exchanger concept can be used as a gas cooler, a heat recovery exchanger or a condenser – all in transcritical CO₂ applications. One WGC model can thus operate in different modes within the same system, depending on the working conditions of the moment.

Shells and tubes for good reason

WGC heat exchangers are based on the shell-and-tube design which is highly resistant to both mechanical and thermal fatigue. In comparison with other heat exchanger technologies, this design offers notable advantages for installations in water-cooled CO₂ refrigeration systems – especially when the system has a medium or large capacity of more than 250 kW. One single WGC can replace up to three brazed plate heat exchangers, making the system less complex to install. Furthermore, they offer high thermal efficiency thanks to their counterflow design.

Customised to individual needs

Every BITZER WGC can be customised in terms of shell diameter, tube length (up to 5.5 metres), number of tubes and baffle arrangement. Customisation follows the respective project’s needs, selections, quotations and technical data. In all cases, CO₂ flows on the pipe side, while the secondary liquid (water or brine) flows on the shell side.

As a gas cooler, the WGC has a capacity range of between 30 and 1,000 kW. The WGC models have received CE approval for pressure vessels, according to the EU Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU.