DÜSSELDORF, Germany, 4 November 2019: GEA Bock’s StarCO₂mpressor, the new generation of mobile CO₂ compressors for electric bus and railway air conditioning and heating, in end-October received the Busworld Innovation Label Award 2019 at the world’s largest bus trade fair in Brussels, the company said through a Press release. The international jury of experts honoured the StarCO₂mpressor concept with innovative “star” drive gear design, which opens up new possibilities for economically and ecologically sustainable mobile electric bus and railway air conditioning, the company said.

“We are delighted that our new StarCO₂mpressor has received the Innovation Label Award,” said Ulrich Frey, Product Manager, Mobile Applications, GEA Bock. “It confirms the leading position of GEA Bock compressors in the refrigeration and air-conditioning technology sector and shows that functionality, economy and climate protection can go hand in hand even with mobile compressors for natural refrigerants.” According to the release, the StarCO₂mpressor was presented to an international trade audience for the first time at Busworld Brussels 2019, which took place from October 18 to 23.

According to the release, at the core of the StarCO₂mpressor is a radial piston technology, which is specially designed for trans-critical use with the natural refrigerant CO₂ (R-744) and enables a very compact system design with numerous technical and constructive innovations. “This makes the new mobile CO₂ compressor perfectly suited for space-saving roof installation in electric buses and railways,” Frey said. “This includes the lowest overall height in the industry of only 220 mm and the light weight of only 83 kg, which is at least 25% below the standard compressor in this performance class.”

According to the release, the compressor enables energy-saving heat generation even at low outside temperatures, down to -20 °C without power-consuming electric or environmentally harmful fuel-operated auxiliary heaters. This increases the range of an electric bus by up to 40%, the release said. “The innovative technology of the StarCO₂mpressor has already successfully proven its practical suitability in extensive field tests with renowned manufacturers,” Frey said. With the new StarCO₂mpressor, the release said, GEA Bock is expanding its portfolio of compressors for natural refrigerants with an ecologically and economically efficient technology for the future electromobility market.