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.
The supermarket refrigeration sector is sensing the demise of high-GWP HFCs for use in HVAC systems, including some of the most commonly used refrigerants, R-404A and -507. Even if the line between high- and low-GWP HFCs has yet to be drawn, the industry is considering low-GWP options more frequently.
With the phaseout of R-22, many food retailers are adapting to future R-22 supply constraints by transitioning away from this refrigerant. Because many of the substitute refrigerants are potent greenhouse gases, it is important that food retailers use the retrofitting process as an opportunity to tighten system leaks.
The following article was prepared by Parker Hannifin Corp. Micro Thermo Technologies and describes one of the approaches for use of CO2 in transcritical systems for refrigeration.
Here’s an interesting head scratcher for those of you who have been in the refrigeration sector of the HVACR industry for quite some time. Earlier this year, I was at an event called FMI Connect. One of the exhibitors was showing products for secondary and indirect (distributed) systems.