The ATMOsphere Review Panel has made its second round selection of case studies to be presented at ATMOsphere Europe 2013. Topics include industrial refrigeration, transport refrigeration and heat pump studies by Carrier Transicold, Mayekawa, DSI, Schiessl, Star Refrigeration and. boostHEAT. Thursday, we will be announcing the final case study selections including more heat pump case studies, air-conditioning and data center cooling applications.

Efficient road transport refrigeration unit using CO₂ by Sebastien Lemoine, Carrier Transicold

This case study will focus on Carrier Transicold’s recently launched first CO₂ container refrigeration system, NaturaLINE^TM, which, after withstanding two years of extensive field trials, provides an example of efficient and environmentally friendly road transport. Even if the system price is initially higher than current or partially improved systems (GWP less than 2500), leakage check costs, taxes on the refrigerant and refrigerant price versatility are factors that will not impact natural refrigerant systems, increasing their competitiveness and viability.

Natural refrigerants with high pressure compressors in industrial plants by Robert Sossi, Mayekawa

The case study focuses on a French plant installed in 2011 by contractor Axima Refrigration GDF Suez, which belongs to an international group of companies active in traditional bakery products for bakeries, food service operations, supermarkets and industrial customers. The plant was installed for a nominal freezing production capacity of approx. 3 mW at -35°C product temperature with a CO₂/NH₃ cascade system. The presentation will include an additional project example of a high pressure reciprocating ammonia compressor for the production of 90°C hot water of approximately 3 mW. Heat rejected from the chilling installation is used as the heat sources. The study looks at the operational results of the plant, including energy efficiency, investment and operating cost summaries.

Plate freezers aboard fishing vessels using CO₂ and ammonia by Mads Sigsgaard, DSI

“Maximizing production and refrigeration efficiency is key for ship-owners when investing in plate freezers. Environmental legislation is forcing the change to natural refrigerants, but the limited space in a fishing vessel means that improving the operational efficiency of the refrigeration system and optimizing the factory throughput is very important. The additional factory throughput and the difficulty getting people to work aboard calls for improvement of the working environment. In the last years, we have delivered many plate freezers for European fishing companies based on natural refrigerants,” says Mads Sigsgaard, Regional Sales Manager for DSI.

For more than 30 years, DSI has manufactured plate freezers for installation aboard fishing vessels. The earliest installations used HCFC and HFC refrigerants. Today, most new installations aboard European fishing vessels employ NH₃ and CO₂ plate freezers. This case study will show that the adaption of natural refrigerants in the fishing vessels has been going on for several years and continues with the aim of maximizing the efficiency of the systems and improving the working environment in the factory aboard.

CO₂ and Propane – two efficient partners for industrial cooling by Robert Baust, Schiessl

Since November 2012, the cascade CO₂ and R290 unit Schiessl took into commission has been running fault free and has shown noticeable reduction in power consumption when compared to the predecessor unit, which used R404A. The unit’s duty is 140 kW for brine at -37°C, which is used for the industrial process of hop cooling. It is designed as a compressor rack with three Bitzer reciprocating compressors at each stage. To keep operational and investment costs low, heat exchangers were integrated for subcooling the R290 and desuperheating the R744. Electronic expansion valves and frequency inverters for the compressor and condenser were also employed. This basic design can be used as a model for any cooling duty by brine or direct expansion between -25°C and -48°C.

Delivering 90°C district heat from the fjord with zero emissions and zero GWP by Dave Pearson, Star Refrigeration

“Star Refrigeration’s system has quite literally delivered the impossible…90°C from a heat pump using ammonia. More than just being technically possible, the systems >3.05 COPh shows that large ammonia heat pumps are commercially viable as well. This presentation covers the technical, the commercial, the practical as well as the environmental aspects that go into making this the world’s first and largest 90°C ammonia heat pump,” says Dave Pearson, Director of Innovation at Star Refrigeration.

This presentation will focus on the Drammen Heat Pump, one of the world’s largest natural heat pumps for district heating, which Star Refrigeration designed and manufactured to deliver 14MW of heat at over 90°C and to save 15% of energy consumption. The system components are specifically designed for NH3 and pressures up to 65bar. The special design and the application of cutting edge technology deliver 3-fold heating capabilities, compared to an electric heating system.

Thermal compression of CO₂ to reduce boiler consumption by half by Luc Jacquet, boostHEAT

“Boiler and heat pump technologies are mature and efficient. Using the specifics of CO2 as a refrigerant, boostHEAT develops a new generation of heat generators combining the best of both technologies and realizing a major consumption breakthrough” shares Luc Jacquet, President and Co-founder of boostHEAT.

Through thermal compression technology, boostHEAT brings to the boiler what the heat pump brought to electric heating. This case study presents how boostHEAT merged two tried and tested heating technologies: the boiler and the heat pump. The fusion was performed using an original patented thermal compression system. The calorific value of the fuel is used, not to power the heating system, but to compress the CO₂ refrigerant used in the heat pump cycle. The anticipated reduction in consumption levels is 45-60% for low temperature boilers (35°C), 25-40% for high temperature boilers (55-65°C) and 50-80% for production of domestic hot water. The first prototype has been designed to provide a rated power of 10kW and run for 50,000 hours (15 years) without requiring maintenance.

Process cooling with CO₂ in Mack brewery, Norway by Kent Hofmann, Green & Cool


About ATMOsphere Europe 2013
15 & 16 October at the Crowne Plaza Le Palace Hotel in Brussels, Belgium

For the fifth consecutive year, ATMOsphere Europe 2013 serves as the meeting point to discuss the latest developments concerning natural refrigerants. In addition to several technology case study presentations, the conference features leading end users and consumer brands and suppliers, who will discuss their experiences with natural refrigerants. Key policy representatives will provide an in depth look at the upcoming F-Gas regulations with input from Members of the European Parliament and national governments.

View the full ATMOsphere Europe 2013 programme: www.ATMO.org/europe2013/programme

Register for ATMOsphere Europe 2013: www.ATMO.org/europe2013/registration

For general information about the conference, please visit the event website at www.ATMO.org/europe2013