Frigoblock, one of the leading manufacturers of transport refrigeration units in Europe and brand of Thermo King, supported Mångbergs Åkeri, a Swedish long-haul haulage company, on their journey to electrify their fleet’s refrigeration systems.
The latest project included installing the FK25 electric refrigeration unit on a Scania V8 engine truck and adding the Frigoblock alternator solution to power both the truck-mounted FK25 unit and the Thermo King SLXi reefer on the draw-bar trailer. Thanks to the innovative design of the Frigoblock alternator and drive-kit technology, Mångbergs Åkeri can lower their environmental impact and experience the benefits of a high-capacity hybrid refrigeration system in their long-haul road train operations.
“Our operations require powerful trucks and efficient refrigeration systems that can not only work in long-haul, sometimes extreme conditions, but that also represent our approach to sustainability” said Stefan Mångberg, owner at Mångbergs Åkeri. “We value Frigoblock’s expertise in electric transport refrigeration and this is why we reached out to them to help us find the right, electrified solution for our latest drawbar truck and trailer.”
“One of our values at Frigoblock is our dedication to sustainable innovation and the commitment to support our customers in their efforts towards electrification,” said Björn Forsberg, account manager for Frigoblock. “With Mångbergs Åkeri, we tailored our technology to meet their requirements and create not only the first Scania truck with a V8 engine and an electric Frigoblock refrigeration system, but a compelling solution allowing also to power the drawbar trailer’s refrigeration.”
The newest Scania truck in Mångbergs Åkeri’s fleet, together with the drawbar-trailer, creates an almost 24 meters long road train. Running on HVO-biofuel, the V8 engine truck operates on routes of approximately 600 kilometres a day, seven days a week. Frigoblock was asked to deliver a refrigeration system that would convey enough cooling capacity for both the truck and trailer, while running on electricity.
The Frigoblock team selected the proven FK25 unit for the truck. To make it work with the Scania’s V8 engine, and maximise the engine’s power, the team installed a new hydraulics driven alternator kit. The hydraulic drive kit allows to source enough power from the Scania’s V8 engine to not only power the electric FK25 unit but also the Thermo King SLXi trailer reefer mounted on the draw-bar trailer. This allows Mångbergs Åkeri to run the refrigeration units on electricity immediately when the truck is on and benefit from a fully electric-refrigerated truck and a hybrid trailer road train.
Frigoblock’s refrigeration has also met the stringent requirements related with the air circulation inside the truck. The load compartment, divided in two by the hydraulic floors requires the refrigeration unit to deliver enough capacity to evenly circulate the air and ensure the same temperature level across the space, in all ambient conditions.
“We are moving away from diesel-powered refrigeration and have tested different refrigeration technologies in our drawbar applications.” continued Mångberg. ”Frigoblock’s alternator technology generates so much power that we practically don’t need to turn the trailer refrigeration unit’s diesel-engine. This really helps us to make our operations greener and supports our move towards low-emission distribution and logistics.”