Here's my view of the three Mag Bearing Chiller Manufacturers:
McQuay: Owned by Daiken (Japan) and was the first manufacturer to produce a flooded chiller with multiple Turbocor compressors - started producing in early 2000's. They make only a 2-compressor chiller up to about 600-tons. The control of two compressors on a common shell is very simple in comparisson to the other manufacturers who are building systems with six or eight compressors.
Smardt: Privately owned and located in Montreal. Produce multiple compressor chillers up to about 1,000 tons. They can build chillers with up to 6 compressors, giving them a significant part load efficiency advantage over machines with only two compressors. They are about 5-years old and were created specifically to build these types of chillers. They build nothing else and have the kinds of issues that 5-year old companies have. They seem not to have the service support of the other two players.
Multistack: Privately owned, located in Wisconsin. Will produce multiple compressor chillers >1,000 tons. Multistack is the newest entry into the Flooded Turbocor Chiller market, but has been in production with DX Turbocor chillers for longer than the other players (about 8 or 9 years). They can build chillers with up to 8 compressors, giving them a significant part load efficiency advantage over the two compressor manufacturer in systems with more than two compressors. They also seem to have the most experience in making these systems work, especially after this year as they have absorbed much of what was the Danfoss Turbocor Retrofit Group into their organization.
FYI, the Danfoss Turbocor Compressor is very complex. Controlling these compressors is the key to making them work and is a significant burier for manufacturers to enter this part of the market...
That's my $0.02...
