Transport Refrigeration Unit Customisation Strategies

Dearman Engine Company (Dearman)’s proprietary liquid air transport refrigeration unit
(TRU) offers the prospect of well-to-wheel CO2 savings of 20%-40% and operating costs
reductions of up to £1200 per vehicle per year. It is being developed for single compartment
and temperature use by an LCV IDP8 project - Cool-E and in a commercial R&D project with
Hubbard Products entering field trials this summer. Dialogue with market participants as well
as indicating substantial demand has revealed that conventional TRUs are often extensively
customised (e.g. multi-compartment, heating, mounting configurations, shore power etc).
Conventional TRUs can draw on decades of experience and rules of thumb, however for this
emerging technology very little prior art exists offering an opportunity for innovation and IP
generation. This project seeks to develop analysis tools validated through a programme of rig
testing to develop this important capability.
The project will accelerate deployment of Dearman TRUs through making them applicable to
the broadest possible market segments whilst helping Dearman capture intellectual property
that increases the value of its offering safe guarding its shareholders and the UK tax payers’
substantial investment in development to date.