BITZER at Busworld Europe 2025: Compressors for the mobile air conditioning and heat pump systems of the future

Air conditioning and heat pump systems in mobile applications like electric buses need to be compact, lightweight, energy-efficient, reliable and future-proof, which can pose special challenges for components such as limited installation space, high demands in terms of comfort and a focus on zero-emission mobility. Global regulations – most notably, the EU F-Gas Regulation – and eco-labels like the ‘Blue Angel’ are some of the driving forces behind eco-friendlier solutions, and the switch to natural refrigerants plays a key role. At this year’s Busworld Europe, BITZER will be presenting innovations from its extensive product portfolio for these refrigerants.

‘An efficient and reliable air conditioning and heat pump system is key when it comes to increasing the range of electric buses and ensuring a high level of passenger comfort,’ says Oliver Rathfelder, Director of Sales Transport at BITZER. ‘And that is why we at BITZER focus on developing components with high operating reliability.’ Efficient components also reduce the indirect emissions associated with energy consumption and thus CO₂ emissions.

Solutions for natural refrigerants ensure future viability

After the low-noise SPEEDLITE ELV52 scroll compressor for use with propane (R290), HFO and HFC as a refrigerant as well as the CO₂LITE reciprocating compressor for CO₂, the company is now expanding its horizontal EL.7 scroll compressor series to include variants for use with propane (R290) as a refrigerant. As a result, there are now even more BITZER compressors available for natural and low-GWP refrigerants. Thanks to the company’s usual proven and robust design, these scroll compressors can be operated with or without a frequency inverter. BITZER has years of field experience in using propane as a refrigerant in a variety of applications, which it incorporated into development. When it comes to current environmental regulations, propane is considered to be a future-proof refrigerant due to its low global warming potential. The refrigerant performs well in mobile air conditioning and heat pump systems, including in comprehensive thermal management, and enables high efficiency in heat pump operation even at low ambient temperatures. BITZER has offered compressors for hydrocarbons like propane (R290) since 1990 and for CO₂ (R744) since 1998.

BITZER CO₂LITE reciprocating compressors

Optimised for transport applications, the CO₂LITE reciprocating compressor boasts a reduced height of 257 mm and a weight of under 80 kg for a space-saving system design and can be used either vertically or horizontally. The reciprocating compressor demonstrates its strengths particularly in comprehensive thermal management and enables the use of eco-friendly CO₂ systems even in the smallest of spaces. This is especially important for sustainable mobility solutions such as electric buses, where space and weight restrictions, efficiency and lifetime have a direct impact on investment and operating costs. With displacement of 6.64 m³/h at 50 Hz and a wide capacity control range, CO₂LITE achieves cooling capacities of up to 32 kW* and heating capacities as high as 25 kW** (* operating conditions: t₀ = +5°C, t_{gk, aus} = +35°C at 70 Hz), (** operating conditions: t₀ = –20°C, t_C = +25°C at 70 Hz).

Safe investment with natural refrigerants

It is increasingly important to use air conditioning systems and heat pumps with refrigerants that are sure to be available over the long term. It is F-Gas Regulation 2024/573 that reigns supreme in Europe, with a phase-down of total emissions in CO₂ equivalents by 2030. After that, only refrigerants with a greenhouse effect (GWP) close to zero can be used for new systems. The F-Gas Regulation is only applicable in the EU – however, other states and regions are watching closely what is happening in the EU. Far-reaching environmental regulations such as the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol stipulate a drastic reduction in emissions even on a global level and have waged war on refrigerants with a high global warming potential.

■

As an independent specialist for refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump technology, BITZER is present all over the world: with products and services for refrigeration, air conditioning and process cooling as well as transport, BITZER ensures optimum temperature conditions for trade in goods, industry processes and indoor climate control – always striving for the highest possible energy efficiency and quality. BITZER is represented all over the world with 75 sites in 41 countries, including its sales companies and production facilities. Trade and service partners included, the BITZER network of manufacturing, development and sales extends to almost all countries in the world. In 2024, 4,500 employees generated a turnover of €1.12 billion; expenditure for research and development totalled €67 million.

www.bitzer.de

Overview of images

Images may only be used for editorial purposes. This usage is free of charge if ‘Photo: BITZER’ is provided as the source and a free copy of the publication is sent. Images may not be modified or altered, except to crop out the background surrounding the main subject.