- Gaurang Dabholkar, Associate Vice President-Sales, Kirloskar Chillers Kirloskar Chillers (KCPL) followed the pioneering tradition when it revolutionised the Indian HVAC industry by introducing a range of HFC chillers in 1996. Gaurang Dabholkar, Associate Vice President-Sales, Kirloskar Chillers, shares more on the company´s offerings... Introduce us to your product offerings. KCPL offers a range of chiller products for comfort air-conditioning, process cooling and heating. These include the TURBOTEK series of centrifugal chillers from 250-2,400 TR, the TURBOLEV series of centrifugal chillers with magnetic bearing compressors from 95-375 TR and the PRODIGY series of water-cooled and air-cooled screw chillers from 45-560 TR, with option of VFD. We also offer a range of heat pumps up to 1,000 kW for hot water generation and low temperature chillers down to -20oC brine temperatures. How do you offer superior operating efficiency and design flexibility for your products? A strong focus on R&D as well as application engineering allows for efficient and reliable products. Continuous product improvements in the three areas of chiller design - mechanical, thermal and controls - keep our products at the forefront of chiller technology globally. The ability to customise has helped us offer products closer to customer expectations. Being the only Indian company to offer its own screw compressors in its chillers, gives us an edge over the competition. How has this edge helped the company? A comprehensive range allows us to offer a solution for every cooling and heating application. The company saw an increase of about 25 per cent in revenue in 2015-16 over the previous fiscal, and continues to grow at brisk pace. Serving diverse applications in industrial and commercial segments, allows the company to weather fluctuations in the economy and continue its growth trajectory. Tell us about the Ozone Safe chillers... KCPL was a pioneer in manufacturing chillers with ozone-friendly HFC refrigerants to the Indian market. Today, its entire range of products uses zero-ODP refrigerants such as HFC 134a and HFC 407C. And, we are in the process of developing products with next-generation HFO organic refrigerants, far ahead of the regulatory requirements. Any recent innovations in the HVAC&R market? KCPL was the first Indian chiller manufacturer to offer AHRI certified chillers and establish an AHRI-certified test facility for water-cooled chillers. In 2013, we introduced oil-free centrifugal chillers using magnetic bearing compressors with outstanding part load performance, low noise levels and soft start features, which have proved to be popular for continuous duty applications. All our products - conventional and magnetic bearing centrifugal chillers as well as water-cooled and air-cooled screw chillers - come with the option of VFD, providing significant savings in operating costs through the life of the plant. Another innovation is the range of air-cooled screw chillers with adiabatic cooling, which offers power savings with a minimal use of water, suitable for hot and dry regions. We have also introduced web-based remote monitoring for our chillers, allowing continuous monitoring of the health of the chillers from a central control room. How do you view the growth of your business in the next five years? Consolidation in industrial segments and increased efforts to improve visibility in commercial segments will be the key to KCPL improving its market share. To further augment its business from the competitive domestic market, KCPL continues its thrust on exports. In 2016-17, Kirloskar Chillers will be executing a landmark order for 8 x 4,000 kW (1,137 TR), CE marked, seismically qualified, 6.6 kV Centrifugal Chillers for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor atomic energy project at Cadarache in France, a joint project involving participation of nine countries, a proud moment for Kirloskar Chillers and for India, being chosen over several global chiller suppliers for this prestigious project. (Communication by the management of the company)