Fresh on the heels of the announcement of an almost 50 percent reduction in supplies of virgin HCFC-22, the supermarket industry is reacting. What are they focusing on now? 

Interest in so-called natural refrigerants continues to grow, especially when it comes to the refrigeration of food. Here are some examples that illustrate how companies are using natural refrigerants to keep food cold and fresh.

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.

The upcoming games of the XXX Olympiad in London are featuring some of the latest state-of-the-art refrigeration and air conditioning equipment as well as the use of one of the oldest refrigerants, namely ammonia, as well as other natural refrigerants such as CO2 and HCs.

While HFC refrigerants appear firmly entrenched in the HVACR industry landscape for the foreseeable future, it is interesting to see how so-called “natural” refrigerants such as ammonia, HCs, and CO2 could have an impact.

Now that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved the use of three hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants in some smaller appliance applications, advocates of HCs are continuing to promote use in larger equipment, with commercial ice machines as well as reach-in/walk-in freezers and coolers possibly next in line.

Danfoss recently participated in the ATMOsphere America 2012 event, held June 12-13 in Washington, D.C. The conference focused on the business case for natural refrigerants in the United States and Canada.

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?

With HFC refrigerants secure for the foreseeable future, it is still interesting to take a look from time to time at phase down talk and how the industry may adjust should that become a reality.