Carrier Montluel Laboratory

Built in 1985, the ‘Paul Quentin’ laboratory located adjacent to the main Carrier factory in Montluel (Lyon) obtained COFRAC certification in 1989.  This independent body certifies the impartiality and competence of the facility ensuring that clients be absolutely confident in the test methodologies and results produced. Since it is the only such certificated test facility in Europe, other companies can use it for special tests that they cannot undertake at their own facilities.

The laboratory has a total floor area of 4,500m2 and offers 11 individual test rooms including one dedicated to testing terminal units and three for testing refrigeration plant. The ambient temperature range in the test cells can be controlled at any temperature -25 to 55 °C and the total input power of the building and its associated energy plant-room can total more than 3,000 kW.

A permanent staff of 21 engineers and technicians concentrate on three main activities;

Research and development:
Montluel is the global centre for the development of 50Hz air-cooled and water-cooled chiller products for the Carrier organization and the laboratory works closely with the product engineering department to develop, test and refine new products

Performance testing
Even through all the products are fully tested in the factory, some customers request additional tests at the particular operating conditions specific to their project. These tests guarantee clients that the performance of their unit at the project design operating conditions will be as predicted.

 Specialist manufacturing
The laboratory is the manufacturing centre for specialist / large units such as Carrier’s range of 19XR centrifugal chillers.  The large gantry crane and full height access doors mean that even the very largest units can be lifted directly onto transport from the assembly area.