Apache Junction, Ariz., is one of the harshest and hottest climates in the United States. Last winter Burke Alford, maintenance manager for the Safeway supermarkets, was faced with the dilemma of replacing another evaporative condenser. The company decided to consider a new hybrid condenser technology.

I just returned from my biannual visit to the Food Marketing Institute Food Retail Show, called FMI 2012. This is for all things in supermarkets and convenience stores. For me it means the latest in refrigeration equipment and — more and more these days — the refrigerants used in that equipment.

Due to escalating energy costs over the past several years, supermarket chains are exploring new equipment designs to reduce their energy consumption. This article provides a detailed comparison of a typical supermarket refrigeration system designed with air-cooled condensers versus one with evaporative condensing.

The conversation on ways to make ammonia work in a wider range of refrigeration applications is drawing increasing attention these days. At the most recent International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) conference in Milwaukee, technical presentations covered its uses in supermarkets, with heat pumps, in absorption refrigeration, and in conjunction with CO2.

As the supermarket industry continues to embrace so-called ‘natural refrigerants,’ manufacturers also continue to seek improvements in energy efficiency with what they hope is easy to use equipment for service technicians. The FMI Food Retail Show was a major showcase for these developments at this year’s show in Dallas.

When the EPA’s  Greenchill’s Keilly Witman spoke at the Food Marketing Institute Expo last spring she said so-called natural refrigerants  would dominate the conversation and begin to appear in supermarkets in North America. Was she right?

When it comes to industrial and commercial refrigeration, high on the research radar screen are low GWP alternative refrigerants for everything from small bottle coolers and freezers to entire supermarket systems.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership has honored a number of supermarkets, manufacturers, and individuals with its 2012 GreenChill Awards.

One sector where CO2 is making the strongest inroads in the United States is in supermarkets as more stores and refrigeration manufacturers embrace its use. Where are two recent examples that make for good reading?

Heatcraft has opened the state-of-the-art Heatcraft Innovation Center. According to the company, “The new center adds value to customer experience showcasing refrigeration solutions for supermarket, foodservice, cold storage, and industrial cooling applications with a high-tech laboratory and training facility.”