Commercial refrigeration

Danish company Advansor’s first CO₂ transcritical system in Australia yesterday began operating at a United Food Express warehouse in the Melbourne suburb of Keysborough.

Leading German air conditioning and refrigeration associations are demanding meetings with the government over refrigerant shortages.

Panasonic looks set to move into the refrigeration market in Europe after launching a range of CO₂ condensing units at last week’s Interclima exhibition in Paris.

Emerson announced it has launched propane-ready models for its Copeland M-Line condensing unit platform. The new models, which feature the latest Copeland reciprocating hermetic compressors, are designed to deliver up to 30% in energy savings.

Representatives from leading CO₂ component and system suppliers spoke about upcoming projects in China and what is driving the market at ChinaShop 2017.

Chinese retail chain Hong Fu Supermarkets has installed a CO₂ subcritical system at its flagship store located in the city of Hefei, Anhui province, in eastern China.

Yokohama Reito Co., Ltd., one of Japan’s leading food distribution and cold storage companies, has installed Mayekawa’s NewTon NH₃/CO₂ packaged refrigeration system at its most technologically advanced facility.

Bacharach has introduced a CO₂ leak detection monitor, specifically designed for industrial and retail refrigeration applications.

Just two months before next year’s major cut in HFC refrigerants, a survey of European retailers has revealed that 40% are not fully aware of the regulatory changes.

AGC Asahi Glass (AGC), a world-leading manufacturer of glass, chemicals and high-tech materials, announces that it has obtained certification for AMOLEA 1224yd, a new refrigerant with a lower environmental impact. The certification was granted in October 2017 by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), marking the first time for a Japanese company to obtain approval for a new chemical substance. AGC intends to begin commercial production of AMOLEA 1224yd in early 2018, and will continue to increase capacity in line with demand growth.

During a meeting on 7 October in Vladivostok, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Working Group SC61C – formed to update the international standard for commercial refrigeration, IEC 60335-2-89 – agreed to finalize its work and advance the draft amendment (committee draft for vote; CDV) for public comments.

An upgraded commercial HVAC&R CO₂ system from Italian designer and producer of refrigeration systems enEX allows for summer cooling and winter heating in a supermarket, using the energy from the compressors in a refrigeration system.

The Brazilian compressor manufacturer told the 9th International Conference on Compressors and Coolants that propane increases the efficiency of the compressor by 30% compared to HFCs.

The global refrigerants market is estimated at USD 14.49 Billion in 2017 and is projected to reach USD 18.05 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2017 to 2022. In this report, 2016 is considered the base year and the forecast period is from 2017 to 2022.

Italy-based CO₂ system supplier SCM Frigo has announced it will install a CO₂ transcritical system in a METRO Wholesale store in Beijing, China, by the end of this year. The system will be the first in China for both METRO AG and SCM Frigo.

On 4 August, the European Commission decided to maintain a ban on HFCs in multipack centralised commercial refrigeration as originally adopted in the 2014 European F-Gas Regulation.

Honeywell has announced that TCL, one of China’s largest appliance manufacturers, is using the new low GWP insulation propellant HFO1233zd in its domestic refrigerators.

Aldi is to convert all its UK stores to use CO₂ refrigeration, the German discount supermarket chain has announced.

The existing R404A refrigeration system of a Waitrose supermarket located in Holsworthy (UK) has been retrofitted with R449A refrigerant (HFO/HFC blend of R32, R125, R134a and R1234yf). R449A has a rather high GWP (1397) but significantly lower than R404A’s GWP (3922) and complies with EU F-gas Regulation requirements.

On 25 July 2017, the Japanese government eased restrictions on CO₂, opening the door to wider adoption of large CO₂ systems in the Japanese market. This easing of regulations is creating new opportunities for overseas CO₂ system and component suppliers.