Articles Tagged with ''Refrigerated display cases''

This case study documents one year of operating experience with a transcritical carbon dioxide (TC CO₂) booster refrigeration system at Delhaize America’s Hannaford supermarket location in Turner, Maine. This store, which began operation in June 2013, is the first supermarket installation in the U.S. of a TC CO₂ booster refrigeration system.

The global market for refrigerated display cases is forecast to reach $11.4 billion by 2020, spurred by the rising importance of visual merchandising as a cost effective way to boost retail sales, according to a new report by Global Industry Analysts Inc.

CO₂ is primarily used in cascade systems that include ammonia, in booster systems in supermarkets, and as a stand-alone refrigerant for transcritical-configured systems.

Everyone talks about what it initially costs a supermarket to switch to a 100 percent CO2 commercial refrigeration system. But start thinking about the costs that come next — on everything from electricity to regulatory compliance — and the return on investment on CO2 begins to make a great deal of sense.

So, supermarket owners want refrigeration systems that are energy efficient to hold down costs and pro-environmental for political correctness. But for engineers, contractors, and technicians that approach may not be all that easy, whether bringing a new store online or retrofitting an existing one.

A demonstration of complex — but ultimately valuable — developments when it comes to supermarket refrigeration is a project conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Supermarket owners want refrigeration systems that are energy efficient to hold down costs and pro-environmental to portray political correctness. But, for engineers, contractors, and technicians, that approach may not be that easy when opening a new store or retrofitting an existing location.

Retailers have called on the cooling supply chain for solutions to help them meet a triple challenge of tight margins, smaller store footprints, and new refrigerant choices.

The refrigerant landscape is preparing for a regulatory makeover. By 2018, approximately 80 percent of commercial refrigerators and ice machines will have to go through a redesign to meet new DOE standards for efficiency; the EPA is proposing to delist R-404A and R-134a in many commercial refrigeration applications; and more.

The potential for growth and development exists across the entire HVACR landscape, but perhaps nowhere is that more apparent than in the area of refrigeration technology.