Brussels, 16 April 2015—The vending industry can take advantage of the opportunity to discover the interesting European Vending Association (EVA) Expand Project during the upcoming Venditalia trade show to be held in Milan, Italy. Being the largest international vending exhibition, Venditalia 2015 is the perfect time and place to exhibit, communicate and explain the project objectives to the widest possible gathering of key industry actors.
‘Expand’ aims to develop a new low capacity expansion valve to increase the efficiency of cooling systems in chilled vending machines and commercial refrigeration systems operating with natural gases. It was created as a result of funding awarded under the European Commission 7th Framework Programme for research and technical development, which specifically targets competitiveness of small and medium enterprises.
The new EU F-Gas Regulation prohibits the use of two of the most commonly used refrigerant gases in vending machines – HFC R404a and HFC R134a – from 2020 and 2022 respectively. The vending industry therefore needs to transition to natural refrigerant gases, such as CO2. Although small cooling systems using CO2 are currently available; they are generally complex and prohibitively expensive. The overall Expand project objective is therefore to provide an efficient and cost effective method for the industry to make this required shift.
By primarily replacing the capillary in the cooling system with a newly developed device, practical tests and initial findings of potential energy efficiency savings indicate that all suitable appliances can show a significant efficiency gain - with the cooling systems of vending machines showing a potential 12-20% energy consumption saving.
These impressive potential findings not only demonstrate the effectiveness that such a highly promising device could have; but coupled with the fact that the device also intends to be manufactured to be low cost, it could clearly be of massive interest and importance for the industry. While currently at development stage, the expansion device is scheduled to be made available in 2017.
The EVA’s role in the project is to manage, administrate and oversee the development of the valve, and ensure the widest dissemination of the device in the industry. As the EVA owns the rights to any protected aspects of the project, its Members will also benefit with privileged device access and key information, as well as support as they consider how to make this move to a natural refrigerant gas.
By exhibiting at a dedicated stand (in the project area) at Venditalia 2015, the Expand project aims to both bring visibility of the initiative to the industry, and explain to participants the practical benefits that the device could bring to their vending companies. The Project stand will be interactive; presenting both a blown-up prototype device, alongside a vending machine cooling unit, in order to help visitors accurately visualize the project goal.
In addition to the EVA, the project development is undertaken and coordinated by 6 other expert and experienced research and/or manufacturing companies across Europe: Re/genT, New Wave Innovation, Inray Solutions, Vending Marketing, Frigocon, and Novum.
Expand has also developed an interesting infographic video to help promote, explain and understand the project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnMe5CoYACo
In additional to the stand showcasing the Expand Project, the EVA will also have its usual stand – shared with the Italian Vending Association (CONFIDA), and is looking forward to meeting various Members, and interacting with potential new Members.
About the European Vending Association
The European Vending Association (EVA) is a not-for-profit organisation established and situated in Brussels since 1994. It represents the interests of the European coffee service and vending industry vis-à-vis the European Institutions and other relevant authorities or bodies. Its membership is composed of national associations and individual companies across Europe. The EVA represents all segments of the coffee service, water dispenser and vending industry: machine and component manufacturers, suppliers of commodities (coffee, ingredients, snacks, cold drinks, cups etc.), and operators.
