By application

The Japanese company has placed its first CO₂ system in Europe, in a COOP store in Randers, Denmark.

The R134a market in Europe is set to undergo an inevitable decline from 1st January 2017 following regulatory changes affecting fluorinated gases for automotive air conditioning taking effect on that date. In this sharply declining market, Arkema has decided to put forward to the Central Works Council today a project for the closure of the R134a fluorogas plant at its Pierre-Bénite site (France). This proposed closure would not result in any redundancies.

Two U.S. supermarkets that use ammonia/CO₂ cascade refrigeration systems – a Whole Foods Market and a Piggly Wiggly – received the GreenChill Award for “Best of the Best” certified stores from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership.

In the largest HFO chiller installation of its kind in the world, Trane CenTraVac’s using R1233zd(E) will replace the existing R22 chillers serving the Channel Tunnel.

France’s HFC phase-down obligations under the EU’s F-Gas Regulation are helping to increase uptake of ammonia refrigeration technologies in industrial applications.

US retailer Piggly Wiggly has recorded energy savings averaging 28.5% over a seven-month period in a Georgia store, thanks mainly to its NH₃/CO₂ refrigeration system.

French firm Atlantic Compressors is delivering an NH₃-CO₂ cascade system to serve the cooling needs of a distribution centre for one of France’s main supermarket chains. The system will be up and running next month.

Emerson Climate Technologies has released three new digital scroll compressors, extending its Summit K5E series to 15hp.

A Waitrose supermarket is said to be achieving refrigeration energy savings of nearly 7% following the replacement of R404A with a new HFO-based blend.

In UK, Space Engineering has launched a new CO₂-based integrated refrigeration system which is said to offer the possibility of impressive energy and financial savings for convenience stores.

‘Advanced Cooling’, launched last weekend at the Clean Energy Ministerial in San Francisco, challenges governments and businesses to develop and use efficient, smart, affordable and climate-friendly cooling technologies.

CO₂ is termed a “Natural Refrigerant” because it exists in the natural environment. Release into the atmosphere from refrigeration systems has a negligible effect compared to other CO₂ sources that are driving the global warming debate. As a refrigerant, it is a manufactured product that conforms to strict purity specifications. Its physical properties require special handling.

Independent tests are said to have proven the energy saving capabilities of Adande’s Aircell air flow management system.

With the introduction of the revised EU Ozone Depleting Substances Regulation and the introduction of a Climate Change Policy by the UK Government, it is considered likely that more refrigeration system designers and users will be turning to alternative refrigerants such as hydrocarbons. The increased application of this technology will bring with it many technical and safety issues.

Space Engineering has launched a new CO₂-based integrated refrigeration system which is said to offer the possibility of impressive energy and financial savings for convenience stores.

Fluorocarbon refrigerants are synthetic chemicals which usually have a high global warming potential, and some still have the potential to cause damage to the ozone layer as well if released to the atmosphere.

Climate change is an increasingly important global concern with far reaching effects. The heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry is allotting a significant amount of effort to reduce the environmental impacts of HVAC&R systems. Discussions about the climate impact is often limited to the GWP of the fluids used, but this is far too restrictive, as it does not take into account the real emissions of fluids, and ignores indirect emissions, especially those related to energy use over the life time of the equipment.

A US manufacturer exhibited a ductless air-cooled water chiller using Opteon XL55, a lower GWP replacement for R410A, at the 2016 AHR Expo which opened on 25 January 2016.