17 Sept 2003
Distribution agreement with Fortum Gas and Oil covers Denmark, Norway and Sweden
Univar adds Thermera environmentally-friendly, water-based heat transfer fluids to its portfolio
Thermera, a novel type of heat transfer fluid with extremely low environmental impact, is now available throughout Scandinavia from Univar as the result of a new distribution agreement with Finland’s Fortum Gas and Oil Oy. The high performance fluid is ideal for antifreeze use in heating and ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) systems.
First launched in Finland in 2000, Thermera is based on betaine, a sugar beet derivative. Betaine – or trimethylglycine – is a non-toxic, natural product that is completely water-soluble and forms a totally homogenous, aqueous solution under all circumstances. It is very stable in terms of both temperature and microbiology, but is also readily biodegradable.
Thermera heat transfer fluid is designed for use in closed circuits operating within a fluid temperature range of -45°C to +110°C. It has good corrosion resistance properties, excellent cold-flow, has none of the toxicity concerns of ethylene glycol and displays better heat transfer characteristics than propylene glycol.
“Thermera is the perfect complement to the wide selection of heat transfer fluids available from Univar Nordic,” says Business Manager, Hans Christian Mengel. “We know the market and its products extremely well and already had the strongest product portfolio for secondary energy-carriers in the region.”
Thermera is proven in various HVAC building systems and for food and refrigeration technologies. According to Hans Christian Mengel, it has the potential to replace glycols, ethanols and brines in a range of heat recovery, industrial heat transfer and air conditioning applications on account of its good heat transfer performance, long-life functionality and outstanding environmental characteristics.
Delivered as a ready-to-use solution, Thermera is available in a number of grades, dependent on their freezing point. Grade Thermera-15, for example, has a freezing point of -15°C and this is recommended to be its lowest continuous operating temperature. All grades are both non-toxic and fully water soluble, and can be discharged directly into sewer systems.
One special grade developed for heat pump applications, as a result of collaboration between Fortum and Univar, is Thermera VP. This contains no corrosion inhibitors at all and is even more environmentally-friendly as it eliminates any potential risk of groundwater pollution.
Based in Porvoo, Finland, Fortum is a leading supplier of oil, gas, power and heat in the Nordic countries, with net sales in excess of E10 billion. It specialises in the supply of environmentally-friendly products and developed Thermera heat transfer fluids in response to demands from its customers.
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United Kingdom
Notes for editors
About Univar:
Univar is the leading independent chemical distributor in the world. Univar is engaged in the chemical distribution business throughout both North America and Europe. Univar sells and delivers chemical, polymer and food ingredients products, the majority of which are “specialities”, to some 250,000 industrial end-users. In addition, Univar provides a number of related services to its customers, such as blending, managing customer inventories, providing technical support and packaging and labelling.
Univar operates a network of 195 distribution centres, spread across the United States, Canada and 14 European countries. In 2001, Univar generated net sales of EUR 4.8 billion and group operating income (including income from equity participations) of EUR 81.6 million. Univar has approximately 7,000 employees based throughout North America and Europe. The company is headquartered in The Netherlands, with North American offices in Bellevue, Washington. For more information: www.univarcorp.com
Editorial enquiries
Hans Christian Mengel
Univar EMEA
Hans.Chr.Mengel@univareurope.com
Peter Ibes
EMG