Any engineers designing products that need a bespoke temperature control system should talk to technotrans. The company has been selling chillers for over 40 years, formerly for the printing industry only but in the last decade (following a series of acquisitions and organic growth) to a much broader engineering market including energy, transport, medical, lab testing, plastics and airport security.
Customers range from small industrial design consultancies right up to global giants like ABB, Siemens and Philips. technotrans can handle both project development work through to serial production for customers and its modular approach means it can provide systems that grow with the business. Its solutions are flexible, its service rapid.
The company is an international player that has its HQ in Germany and plants there as well as in North America and China and sales and support offices throughout the world. Its 870 staff include more than 80 qualified and experienced engineers and 160 technicians. The company is on target to achieve a turnover of Euro 126-132m this year.
The recent acquisition of gkw (Gesellschaft Wärme Kältetechnik mbH) takes it into the plastics injection cooling arena and adds 380 employees and a further Euro45m in revenue.
technotrans’ subsidiary termotek has a department dedicated to pre-development, research and development and product qualification. It employs 18 engineers. They use life cycle, climate and environment simulation tests as well as rigourous function, performance and software checks and field tests.
Technotrans’ support services are comprehensive and include spare parts, OEM and user training, installation and commissioning, remote control and manuals publishing. It has robust quality and environmental credentials.
In the UK, technotrans has its base in Colchester and is there that engineers and designers can contact New Business Development Manager Stuart Packer (01206-224200 or stuart.packer@technotrans.co.uk). His extensive experience in manufacturing, service and contract management and development means he has a good grasp of production issues and knows how to find solutions and ensure every project is effectively supported.
“Our technical knowledge, flexibility and ‘can do’ approach has secured us a number of high profile engineering contracts across a wide range of industries,” says Mr Packer. “We are a global business and we work with companies large and small, across a huge range of applications from security and transport to medical and testing equipment. We can provide water- and air-cooled chillers in various sizes and capacities.”
The company is exhibiting at the Engineering Design Show at the Wasps Arena in Coventry on 19 and 20 October. Its R&D engineers work with design engineers to produce workable cooling technology, right down to miniaturised format. On Stand D60 it will show both water- and air-cooled products and discuss some of its areas of success.
Airport security is one. This application is in the spotlight as tighter legislation surrounding the scanning of holiday suitcases is coming into effect. By 2020 scanning equipment for hold baggage at European airports must meet the exacting ECAC Standard 3. Manufacturers have developed 3D X-ray computed tomography to automatically identify explosives and other prohibited materials, which greatly reduces manual intervention and the potential for human error. Scanning up to 1,800 bags an hour, the new generation security systems make checks fast and more reliable, so that holiday trips can be more relaxing.
The processes involved in producing the 3D X-ray images result in a significant generation of heat, which needs to be expelled. The technotrans group has helped find cooling solutions across a range of machines, each adapted to different airport layouts and environmental policies. Both air- and water-cooled systems can be provided including solutions for a single scanner or centralised systems for a multiple machine site.
Earlier this year technotrans helped a specialist in oil and polymer testing equipment, providing a low voltage Aspen compressor married into an ambient temperature test system for chilling the PSL-Rheotek viscometers manufactured by Poulten Selfe and Lee.
It has also applied its chiller know-how to keep the temperature steady on intelligent thermal compression devices for sports and other soft tissue injuries, helping to promote rapid healing. This is just one of its medical customers.
Transport has also proved a popular area for bespoke chilling solutions and technotrans has handled on the one hand helping with a turnkey tram system in the Qatar capital Doha and on the other providing a small format battery cooler for Vantage Power who convert diesel buses in London into low emission hybrid buses.
“Transport is an expanding market for technotrans, because sustainable mobility concepts that use energy more efficiently and cut CO2 emissions are attractive to many markets,” says Mr Packer. “Extending the low emissions zone in London was mentioned in the new mayor’s manifesto so we anticipate a growth in demand here in the next few years.”
