The new Tropical Multi V Plus II is packed with several advantages and is well suited to meet the demands of the region’s hot, humid climate, says the Korean air-conditioning giant.

01 April 2008

Korea-based LG Electronics, one of the world’s top air-conditioner manufacturers and a leader in consumer electronics and mobile communications, has launched the Tropical Multi V Plus II technology system, which it says will bring about a revolution in the residential air-conditioner segment of the market.

Equipped with sophisticated features and advanced technology, the new product is expected to provide solutions to problems concerning increase in energy consumption in high-rises and noise from outdoor units.
The term “Tropical Multi V” refers to the ability of the system to control the amount of refrigerant flowing to each of the indoor units. This enables the use of many indoor units of different capacities and configurations and individualised comfort control even under outdoor temperatures as high as 54 deg C. Sophisticated refrigerant flow control technology is at the heart of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems and the reason behind the system’s many advantages. VRF systems help control the amount of refrigerant through advanced compressor and refrigeration circuit controls.
“LG Electronics has not only been taking the lead in product sales across the world but is also providing a one-stop sales operation with design proposals during the early stage of construction, guaranteeing the high quality of installed products and efficient after-sales service,” says Sangmin Lee, general manager of LG Electronics, Saudi Arabia.
The Tropical Multi V Plus II technology system offers a number of advantages that include easy installation, low maintenance cost and energy efficiency, among a host of other attributes.

Easy installation
Unlike chillers that often require cranes for installation, Tropical Multi V systems are lightweight and modular, allowing each module to be transported easily and fitted into a standard elevator. Multiples of these modules can be used to achieve hundreds of tons of cooling capacities.  Although each module has its own independent refrigerant loop, they can all be controlled by one common control system.
Tropical Multi V systems are also well suited for retrofitting historical buildings without disturbing the structure or can be installed in older buildings that have no air-conditioning. Since these units are normally placed outdoors, there is no need for a machine room in most cases.

Maintenance costs
Tropical Multi V systems with a standardised configuration and sophisticated electronic controls have a simpler plug-and-play commissioning method. Being DX systems, Multi V units are lower on maintenance costs than water-cooled chillers, as water treatment issues are avoided, according to Lee.
A comparison done by a VRF manufacturer of a 200-ton VRF for both air and water-cooled chillers in US applications, showed an installed cost premium of approximately five to 20 per cent for systems without VRF technology.

Energy efficiency
A typical building experiences changing air-conditioning load requirements during its lifespan due to a number of factors such as changing zone operation conditions and hence requires a control system that can respond to these changed conditions while saving energy without affecting comfort levels. Inverter technology with linear controls is now widely being used to provide the convenience of individual and accurate control of indoor load conditions with increased energy efficiency.
“Inverter technology can work as an energy saving tool in low-load or part-load conditions,” explains Lee. “In a 50 per cent load situation, an inverter's efficiency can provide almost 30 per cent more energy savings than a non-inverter unit. One study showed that the efficiency of a chiller is higher than that of the VRF only at 90 per cent load capacity. However, in actual operation, 80 per cent of the time a chiller operates at partial loads of 45 to 80 per cent. Variable speed compressors in chillers are now common, but other components such as pumps are often single speed. Hence, a VRF system is more efficient in part-load conditions.”
The Tropical Multi V Plus II is an advanced VRF system with the eco-friendly R410a refrigerant. Incorporating various advanced features such as DC inverter compressors, fan motors, specially designed fins, a new plate-type heat exchanger and sub-cooling injection (SCI), the tropicalised system can save more energy compared to other VRF systems, he points out.

Other benefits
Tropical Multi V guarantees performance under a wide outdoor ambient temperatures range, from -5 deg C up to 54 deg C, being specially designed for tropical regions such as Saudi Arabia.
Further, the length of the piping system ensures greater flexibility in designing buildings, as Multi V can support up to a total a piping length of 1,000 m with a maximum vertical rise of 100 m between the outdoor and indoor units. The Tropical Multi V system also has a number of innovative features such as pump down/pump out functions to save refrigerant during service, auto back-up operation, auto refrigerant charging and black box, all of which help in increasing efficiency while ensuring state-of-the-art operation.
“Given the wide variety of indoor units ranging from the wall-mounted to Artcool series and the ceiling cassette to ceiling concealed duct offered by LG, customers can enjoy comfortable, quality air conditioning with a bigger range of indoor units that go along with the new Tropical Multi V Plus II system,” comments Wooyeol Jung, AC marketing manager of LG Electronics, Saudi Arabia.
“With all its new and advanced features, this air-conditioning technology is expected to be extremely helpful in addressing future energy and environment issues in Saudi Arabia,” he adds.
LG Electronics is currently a global force in electronics, information and communications products and has been in the business of air-conditioners since 1965. Having launched its first VRF system in 1998, the company currently provides a wide range of tailored products suited to a variety of commercial and residential buildings. Its portfolio of CAC (central air-conditioning) products includes MPS, Multi V series, Eco V, Multi F and Multi F DX series, and single units such as concealed duct, ducted split, and packaged units.

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