Emerson Climate Technologies hosted an excellent webinar on Nov. 19 that covered case controls and the benefits of newer, electronic expansion (EX) valves. The webinar was led by John Wallace, director of product management, retail solutions, and Seth Hoehn, product planner, expansion devices.
Today, many retail refrigeration operators deploy systems that are based on traditional system configurations. Despite advances in technology, the status quo is to enable control of refrigeration cases through the electrical panel and/or refrigeration room (or rack house). This centralized method has been adopted in large part as the industry standard, even though it gives operators limited control of their refrigeration system as a whole. What many operators do not realize is that case controls and electronic expansion (EX) valves represent more modern, viable options — allowing operators to exercise more precise system control at the case level, thereby achieving substantial improvements in performance, energy efficiency and system flexibility.
By using case controls and EX valves to enable control at the case level, modern retail refrigeration systems have the flexibility to dictate automated superheat control on a case-by-case basis. And, it’s a fresh alternative that offers many short- and long-term advantages over traditional rack house controls, from simplified installation and faster startup sequences to lower condensing pressures, reduced maintenance costs and long-term, energy-saving opportunities.
Register in a few seconds and listen via archive at
A Case for Case Control and Electronic Expansion Valves.
These concepts and more were explored in the webinar, including:
- Background information on case controls and EX valves
- The economics of different control methods
- The many benefits of EX valve controls
- How to use case controls and EX valves to achieve energy savings and maintenance improvements.
John Wallace has been active in the design and development of electronic control systems for more than 20 years. Before taking on his current role as the director of product management for Emerson Climate Technologies, John held positions at Boeing, Mark Andy, Inc. and Computer Process Controls. He is a registered professional engineer and holds several patents related to HVAC/R control systems. He has served on many industry committees, including the Lonmark Refrigeration committee, and he currently chairs the NAFEM (North American Food Equipment Manufacturers) Data Protocol standardization committee.
Seth Hoehn is the product planner of expansion devices for Emerson Flow Controls, and is responsible for the management of Emerson’s global TXV and EXV product platforms. He has more than 10 years of experience in the HVAC industry, including roles in mechanical design, sales, marketing, and application engineering in the HVAC OEM and electronic expansion valve markets. Before taking on his current role at Emerson, Seth held positions at Microstaq and Carrier Corporation.