‘QUANTUM Water meets all the requirements of tomorrow’

The redesigned QUANTUM Water from ENGIE Refrigeration has been available for about half a year. How is the model being received on the international market? And which properties do customers appreciate most? Our expert Daniel Keller, Head of Sales & Business development at ENGIE Refrigeration, shares his initial conclusions and talks about plans for the coming months. 

Mr Keller, ENGIE Refrigeration launched the QUANTUM Water in June 2021. How did the market launch go?

We at ENGIE Refrigeration are proud to report that our QUANTUM Water, as the most efficient chiller currently on the market, has been very well received right from the start. We appreciate the high level of interest and the numerous enquiries we have received, not just from Germany, our domestic market, but also from around the world. Just four weeks after the launch, we sold our first model to a new customer in Switzerland. A QUANTUM Water will provide cosy temperatures for around 140 residential units with a total floor space of around 150,000 square metres in a large office and residential complex. We have also received concrete project enquiries from several important data centre operators and large companies in the pharmaceuticals industry that have not been part of the ENGIE Refrigeration customer base so far. This demonstrates that our QUANTUM Water chiller is perfect for the needs of the age.

In your opinion, what is unique about the QUANTUM Water?

We are justified in saying that the QUANTUM Water is built for the future: our chiller is powerful, ultra-efficient, cost-effective and climate-friendly. It was built with the concentrated expertise and long-term QUANTUM experience of the expert team at ENGIE Refrigeration. In addition, the QUANTUM Water stands out from all its competitors due to innovative smart features and a highly intelligent PLC. On top of that, and this may surprise you, I personally think that our QUANTUM Water is definitely the most beautiful machine on the market. With its appealing industrial design, enhanced performance and intelligent PLC, our chiller is truly unique.

What should users know about the QUANTUM Water?

The QUANTUM Water has three special features that make it really stand out: first, it has smart control, which allows the chiller to be operated from a smartphone or tablet instead of from a fixed touch panel. This is a first, not just for ENGIE Refrigeration, but for the entire refrigeration industry. And it makes many processes easier – for operating companies and service engineers alike. Second, we now offer the entire range of low-GWP refrigerants for the QUANTUM Water for the first time, and thereby contribute towards sustainability. Third, the series features a sophisticated modular concept comprising 47 chillers, 15 basic models, 15 evaporators, 15 condensers, four economizers and an enclosure for outdoor installation – and thus offers the right product for any customer requirement. By the way, we have summarised the most important benefits of the QUANTUM Water for our customers in an animation on YouTube.

What role does the open-flash economizer play for the QUANTUM Water?

Thanks to their compressors, our chillers are already highly efficient. The open-flash economizer has allowed us to increase this efficiency further – while providing an excellent performance. This is tremendously important to customers. That is why we have integrated the economizer in all 47 QUANTUM Water models as standard. It is similar for the new compressor technology and the latest Siemens PLC in our switch cabinets. Together, the open-flash economizer, compressors and PLC provide a level of quality, power and efficiency that has no equal on the global market. Users benefit from lower energy consumption, for example, and thus the most efficient solution for any operating state – guaranteed.

How can users save time and money with the QUANTUM Water?

Thanks to the efficiency increases I described earlier, users can achieve a three per cent cost reduction on average if they use the QUANTUM Water chiller instead of its predecessor model. That may not sound like much at first; but if you consider how extremely efficient the previous product is, this achievement is absolutely worth mentioning. When the machine is running, the open-flash economizer produces further energy and cost savings. At the same time, the energy savings considerably reduce carbon emissions. And as the QUANTUM Water needs up to 20 per cent less refrigerant, it is also eco-friendly. Many people don’t know this, but a chiller that requires less refrigerant also has longer maintenance intervals. This saves customers time and money and also contributes further to sustainability. To summarise: the high efficiency of the QUANTUM Water chiller results in high levels of sustainability. That is how we at ENGIE Refrigeration help our customers prepare for the future and promote the transition to climate neutrality.

Which other features are you planning for the QUANTUM Water?

I can tell you that we are already working on several developments relating to the QUANTUM Water. They include an enclosure that takes the shape of a machine room, which will reduce customer-side handling of A2L refrigerant. It would enable the QUANTUM Water chiller to be set up outdoors and also function as an additional sound-insulating enclosure. On the basis of our QUANTUM technology, we are also continuing to work on expanding our operating limits to +68 °C for heat pumps and -10 °C for chillers. This is something we first achieved in the new SPECTRUM Water. The SPECTRUM Water will be available as a chiller and a heat pump around the world from the end of March, and will offer new benefits to customers such as the food industry, for example. One thing is certain: whether chillers or heat pumps, our customers can look forward to plenty of innovations from ENGIE Refrigeration in the coming months.

Mr Keller, thank you for talking to us.