Italian vending machine maker FAS International completes transition to CO2 refrigeration systems
Source FAS International
FAS International, an Italian vending machine manufacturer, has accomplished its transition from R134a refrigerants to CO2 (R744) for its entire equipment portfolio. The switch was completed in the fall.
FAS said it has been working in advance to prepare for Europe’s new refrigerant standards, which are designed to reduce energy consumption and damaging impact on the environment. For almost a decade, the company reportedly has been testing CO2 technology, starting with limited production of units using R744 compressors from Japan’s Panasonic
The European Union’s new energy consumption regulations went into effect Mar. 1. The regulations ban the sale of the least efficient refrigerated vending machines and require all new chilled machines to display an official energy label. The rules will ban HFC on Jan. 1, 2022.
As of late 2021, FAS claimed to be the only European manufacturer that could apply CO2 technology to its full lineup of vending machines in production.
Years of experimentation have led FAS to be the only vending company that nowadays is able to apply the CO2 technology to its entire range of vending machines.
“CO2 is a totally natural gas and is normally found on our planet,” the company said. “Its environmental impact is practically negligible and with the least global warming potential.”
The factory pointed out that CO2 gas is nontoxic and nonflammable. “They are therefore suitable for those sites where the installation of refrigeration systems charged with flammable fluids is more complex,” said FAS.
FAS International was founded in 1967 by Antonio Adriani, who developed a 10-drum, single-motor food, snack and packaged drink merchandiser. Today, the company is still managed by the Adriani family. It produces full-line refrigerated, ambient and hot beverage venders in a 215,300-sq.ft. factory in Schio, a small town in northern Italy. The company also produces equipment in partnership with Rhea Vendors Group SpA, another Italian vending machine manufacturer.
