The History of Frigi-Tech’s Refrigerant Oil Additive
Clarence (C.D.) Adams was the founder of Frigi-Tech Refrigerant Oil Additive. In the early 1980’s, Mr. Adams owned and operated one of the largest full maintenance contracting companies in Houston, Texas. A full maintenance contractor is a company that is paid a single lump sum to maintain equipment on an annual basis. This includes any repairs or replacement of equipment that goes down during that time period.
C.D. realized that his largest single expense at the facilities was compressor failure related to the air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. Having a double PHD himself, he teamed up with a professor at Rice University to develop an additive to extend the life of the air conditioning compressors. C.D. was aware that there had been oil additives for non-hermetic motors, almost since lubricants have been needed. But those additives could not be used in the hermetically sealed HVAC systems, due to the fact that the refrigerants are so sensitive to foreign substances. For example, the moisture from the air we breathe will react with the refrigerants to form Hydrochloric or Hydrofluoric acid if it is introduced inside the system.
The original name of Frigi-Tech was “TOPAZ 582”. Topaz, being a stone of Texas; and 582 because that is how many trials the formula went through before the formula was finalized. Energy savings was never a goal to be achieved, but during the testing of the trials, there was a significant reduction of total KWH noticed. These savings were not as important to C.D. because he was mainly interested in extending the life of the compressors.
In the mid to late 80’s Rod Kuehler began to work as a regional distributor with C.D. Adams, and the Frigi-Tech team blossomed. The ability to present a customer with a Return on Investment, previous history and dedicated service; made for a safe investment for the customer.
In the 1990’s C.D. Adams sold his company to Comfort Systems, excluding the Frigi-Tech formula. It was during this time that the marketing for Frigi-Tech changed from preventative maintenance with energy savings being a side benefit, to the main benefit being reduced KWH consumption with a preventative maintenance side benefit.
In 2000 Alan Kuehler joined the team. Alan brought a back ground in chemical science as well as technical education in HVAC systems. In 2002 C.D. Adams retired and Frigi-Tech International was purchased by Rod and Alan Kuehler. Alan has been able to enhance the formula so that Frigi-Tech Refrigerant Oil Additive is compatible with all of the newly developed refrigerants. The ability to custom blend to meet manufacturer specifications sets Frigi-Tech apart far above anyone else.
Frigi-Tech International’s sales have expanded to cover each continent and include over 50 different countries, with countless different environments. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, school districts, hospitals, insurance companies, banks, chemical companies, and etc. Frigi-Tech is backed by a two million dollar international liability insurance policy that has never experienced a claim filed against it.