Dorin, Emerson, Evapco, Embraco, Bohn de Mexico, Whole Foods and DC Engineering will discuss their innovative natural refrigerant-based technologies at the conference. 

A second round of case studies selected will be announced over the coming weeks.

Dorin | The Use of Ejectors in Technology: How to Boost Efficiency in Warm Climates - A Real Example from Italy by Giacomo Pisano

For many years CO₂ has been identified as one of the best alternatives to HFCs in many sectors, including commercial refrigeration. However, due to some unfavorable thermodynamic features, some doubts have been arising about these systems efficiencies, especially in warmer climates.

Nevertheless, the continuous system developments have been leading toward new technical solutions, like parallel compression and ejectors: these new configurations and components have led to significant COP increase, especially in warmer climates. In this sense, some very successful examples have been ongoing since 2013.

This work deals with and describes a real example of an Italian supermarket equipped with one of the most advanced refrigeration system which includes parallel compression, vapor and liquid ejectors; the system layout is described as well as the very many efficiency advantages which have been possible to achieve thanks to these new technologies deployment.

Emerson | The Helix Innovation Center: Providing Infrastructure to Enable Adoption of Natural Refrigerants by André Patenaude 

Helix Innovation Center provides a real life scenario to evaluate the different strategies to accomplish towards sustainability, for developing training content and hands on training. The center incorporates facilities to replicate a residential home, light commercial building, food service operation and supermarket. The investment provides an excellent opportunity for multiple stakeholders to come together, brainstorm, develop data driven justifications in controlled conditions while simulating real life scenarios.

This presentation of the transcritical CO₂ system strategies evaluation planned in Helix Innovation Center will be of interest to end users, consultants and system integrators being a warm to hot summer in the region. 

Evapco | Applying Low Charge Ammonia Systems to an Operating Dairy Facility by Kurt Liebendorfer

The Evapcold low charge units significantly reduced the quantity of ammonia at the Turner Dairy processing facility to a fraction of the amount it would have been with a traditional system, allowing for safer operation and a real reduction of the regulatory burden for the owner and contractor.

The case study project includes both roof mounted penthouse Evapcold low charge ammonia packages for room cooling and also ground mounted Evapcold low charge ammonia chiller packages for cooling of dairy process loads. The facility is an operating plant that has an outdated existing ammonia system and the plant is undergoing a significant expansion. The ability to apply the Evapcold packaged systems in a “plug & play” scenario greatly simplified the project design and installation, while significantly reducing he quantity of ammonia on site.

The energy efficiency savings of the Evapcold solution will also be analyzed in this case study along with other benefits including faster project installation timeline, quicker startup, safer system operation, and reduced cost of ownership for Prairie Farms.

Embraco |  EMC Compressor Achieves Unprecedented Levels of Energy Efficiency by John Prall

The EMC Compressor was recently tested in a worktop freezer cabinet. Compared to the performance of traditional compressors, the EMC Compressor, which uses natural refrigerant R290 significantly reduced energy consumption, resulting in a more sustainable, flexible and cost efficient refrigeration solution for light commercial applications, including beverage coolers, vending machines, under-counter coolers and reach-ins.

Bohn de Mexico | Cold Storage Distribution Center Design with Natural Refrigerants by Benito Gaspar Sagredo Lizarazu

A large cold storage distribution center facility was to be expanded, and the project required a sustainable operation with the latest technology, taking into consideration the efficiency and performance as the two main aspects.  

The engineering team developped a state of the art solution to handle the needs of this large faclity using a critical charge (300 kgs) NH₃ roof top unit, recirculated CO₂ for medium temp needs and a subcritical CO₂ for low temp needs. This system design offers a sustainable, efficient and modern solution for this kind of a project.

Whole Foods and DC Engineering | A Case Study of the CO₂ systems in Whole Foods Market Northern California Region by Tristam Coffin and Tom D. Wolgamot

This case study examines the various applications of environmentally sustainable commercial refrigeration CO₂ systems within the Whole Foods Market Northern California Region.  The systems currently in operation include transcritical CO₂, cascade CO₂/ammonia (R717), and just recently a cascade CO₂/propane (R290) facility which opened in August of 2016.  These refrigeration systems use readily available components and technologies that allow Whole Foods to replicate the designs for other stores.

The case study from ATMO 2015 will be updated with current energy consumption data, the new ammonia and propane stores will also be included in the comparisons. System schematics will be reviewed, along with new information on the driving factors behind the development of the R290/CO₂ cascade refrigeration system.  The energy use profiles and efficiency analysis will include notations about modifications made that affected the system performance.  Lessons learned from the real world designs, including guidance on permitting and operational “fine tuning”, will be discussed so that others may successfully leverage those lessons into their current designs.