Technologies_Manufacturing_Contracting_CCAC

Technologies –

Equipment/System Manufacturing and Contracting

CCAC – 8th December 2012 Technology Forum on Climate-Friendly Alternatives in Commercial Refrigeration Denis Clodic Emeritus Research Director CEP MINES ParisTech

Contents

 Context : Phase down of High Global Warming refrigerants

 Stand-alone equipment

 Condensing units

 Centralized systems

 Overarching issues

 Climatic zones  Risk assessment  Energy efficiency  Containment, Recovery  Qualification of personnel and contractors CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Some numbers

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Global number of food stores and equipment

Estimates of Global numbers based on CEP Study 2006

Supermarkets

300,000

Large Minimarkets supermarkets

20,000

Food specialists and general feeding

4,000,000 10,000,000

Vending machines and Stand alone

22 M & 35 M

 The size of supermarkets varies from 400 to 2,000 m2  The sizes for large supermarkets vary from 2,000 to 20,000 m2 CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Stand-Alone Equipment

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Stand-alone Equipment

 Called also plug-in equipment: they only need electric power

 The circuit could be entirely brazed (still counter examples)

 Wide variety of cooling capacity from 100 W to 3 kW

 Refrigerants: from CFC to HCFC to HFC and in parallel to CO2 and Hydrocarbons

 Many equipment are owned not by the commercial outlets but by the product (beverage, ice cream,..) companies CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Vending machines technical options • The cooling capacity is in the range of 1.5 kW • The HC refrigerant charge is in the range of 300 g • The Coca-Cola company choice: o CO2 for vending machines o 800,000 units of Coca-Cola using CO2 or HCs o Phase-out of HFCs completed by 2015 • The Pepsi company choice: Hydrocarbons • Still the dominant refrigerant is HFC-134a

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Vending machines Old and New

Sanden CO2 cassette

Second-hand vending machine

• The market is complex and diverse • Many vending machines are out of control of global companies CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Ice Cream freezers and dispensers

•

Refrigeration capacity between 300 W and 1.5 kW

•

Refrigeration charge with HCs < 150 g

•

Low capacity systems: HCs (HC- 600a or HC-290) or HFC-134a

•

Large capacity systems: R-404A

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Stand-alone display case Refrigeration capacity varies from 1 to 3 kW Refrigerant charge varies according to the capacity 300 g < HC charge < 1 kg (mostly HC-290) 500 g < HFC charge < 2 kg (R-134a or R-404A) All the heat is rejected in the sales area Requires larger AC system for conditioning the sales area

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Stand-alone Equipment

 Positioning for “natural” refrigerants of global companies

 Commercial offer of a wide variety of stand-alone equipment by a large number of SMEs

 Significant technical offer of CO2 systems capable to operate even under high air temperature

 HC options preferably for low capacity stand-alone equipment

 HFC-1234yf and low GWP blends begin competition with “Natural” Refrigerants CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Condensing Units

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Condensing units

 Unit with one or several compressors connected to air condenser and sold to be connected to wide variety of small to medium-size commercial refrigeration equipment

 Wide variety of cooling capacity from 5 to hundreds of kW

 Requires connections between the condensing units and several evaporators installed in cold rooms and display cases

 Usual refrigerants: R-134a and R-404A

 New offer of HC and CO2 condensing units CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Condensing units

European installed base of Condensing units from AEA report for EU commission 2012

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Connected equipment

• • • • •

Connection are made by contractors Brazing, fittings, Evacuation Gross leak test Refrigerant charge CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Condensing units

 The refrigerant charge requires safety precautions when using flammable substances

 CO2 condensing units give new opportunity for contractors

 HFCs are still dominant

 Low GWP HFCs, CO2 and HCs are going to replace high GWP HFCs in the next years in Europe

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Centralized systems

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Centralized systems

 Medium temperature and low temperature may require different options

 Indirect systems have been tested since more than 15 years

 CO2 at the low temperature with condensation at -15°C is an efficient solution and low cost option

 The size of supermarkets have an impact on the technical options CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Centralized direct expansion systems

Refrigerant To and From the sales area

• The usual option is direct expansion with : • Several racks of compressors dedicated to medium and low temperatures display cases and cold rooms • Several hundreds of connections • 300 kg < Refrigerant charge < 1500 kg • Current refrigerant: R-404A in Europe still HCFC-22 in the US and the developing countries CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Centralized indirect systems

Refrigerant To and From the sales area

Indirect system option: - CO2 at the low temperature as heat transfer fluid - Glycol as a heat transfer fluid at the medium temperature level - Refrigerant charge is reduce by at least 50% and up to 75% - Refrigerant choice is open: no refrigerant in the sales area

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CO2 cascade system Cascade system - CO2 at the low temperature operating at a condensation temperature of -15°C - Other refrigerant at the high temperature level: Ammonia, HCs, HFCs, low GWP HFCs

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CO2 Transcritical centralized system

By courtesy of Carrier

 Significant technical development for commercial leadership  High energy efficiency for air temperature < 25°C  Evaluation of energy efficiency and reliability at high ambient conditions CCAC – 8th December 2012

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CO2 Transcritical system

By courtesy of ATMOsphere 2012

 The 1,000 stores threshold is gained  The market is above 200,000 minimarkets and supermarkets CCAC – 8th December 2012

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European Food stores and equipment

Supermarkets

Large Minimarkets supermarkets

Food specialists and general feeding

Vending machines

EU15

70,500

7,060

80,000

980,000

1,020,000

EU new

5,800

550

14,500

272,000

101,000

Table from EReIE CEP study for EPEE (2011)

 Depending on the size of refrigeration equipment the technical choices are different CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Centralized systems

 Northern Europe for environmental choices and climatic conditions are choosing CO2 transcritical design (but not only)

 The use of CO2 at the low-temperature level (–35°C and lower) is a winning option for all climates in a cascading design

 The competition between options is opened for the mediumtemperature level, which represents the larger refrigerant charges

 The commercial chains like competing suppliers CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Overarching issues

• • • •

Climatic zones and energy efficiency Risk assessment Containment, Recovery Qualification of personnel and contractors

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Climatic zones From GreenMac-LCCP

 The efficient use of CO2 depends on the number of hours at a temperature lower than 25°C  Apple-to-apple comparisons are scarce CCAC – 8th December 2012

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By courtesy of DG Enterprise

Energy consumption is a key driver for future equipment EU Eco Label is establishing targets for energy efficiency CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Food stores and doors

By courtesy of Walmart

 Many commercial companies are taking the commitment of putting doors on ALL display cases (-20 to – 30% energy consumption)  Refrigerant charge is reduced in line with cooling capacity reduction CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Risk assessment

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Flammability properties of 3 / 2 /2L refrigerants Refrigerant

Flam. class

LFL UFL RCL Molar BV mass (% v/v) (% v/v) (kg/m3) (cm/s) (g/mol)

MIE (mJ)

HOC (MJ/kg)

R-290

3

44.1

2.5

10

0.009

46

0.25

46.3

R-717

2L

17.0

15

18

7.2

100

18.6

R-32

2L

52.0

14.4

29.3

0.0003 5 0.0614

6.7

30

9.4

R-152a

2

66.0

4.65

16.9

0.025

23

0.38

17.4

R-1234yf

2L

114

6.2

12.3

0.058

1.5

5000

10.7

R-1234ze

2L

114

7.6

9.5

0.038

01

61000

10.7 2

1 BV = 0 at the testing conditions 2 value taken by default equal to R-1234yf

MIE is the value that differentiates most the 2L refrigerants compared to 2 and 3 refrigerants CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Flammability Properties and Risk assessment

 Severity related to LFL (lower flammability limit) and HOC (heat of combustion), which is expressed by the Burning Velocity  Likelihood is represented by MIE (minimum ignition energy)  Studies of energy release by ignition sources and their frequency in day-to-day life can be easily done CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Safety management system

disposal

From Proklima guidelines 2010

- A safety management system covers all the equipment lifetime - As it is known: the most dangerous stages are those where the flammable refrigerant is charged or recovered.

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Safety management system - The safety management system requires training and awareness - Regulations should enforce refrigerant containment and qualification of personnel for manipulation of all refrigerants From Proklima guidelines 2010 CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Containment, Recovery Qualification of personnel

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Conclusions

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Conclusions and Perspectives  Stand-alone Equipment • Are widely used in developing countries • Are designed by global and local companies • Are maintained by contractors • Are partly owned by global product companies • HCs and CO2 are taking a significant market share based on the commitment of those global companies

 Condensing Units • Are also widely used in developing countries • Standardization is high and currently dedicated to HFCs • Are installed and maintained by contractors in all countries • HCs and CO2 require higher level of skills from contractors CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Conclusions and Perspectives  Centralized systems • Are installed in supermarkets and large supermarkets • Several designs are competing: direct, indirect, and distributed, • The use of High-GWP refrigerants as R-404A will decrease rapidly in Europe • Depending on climatic conditions refrigerant choices are different • Transcritical CO2 systems are efficient in cold climate • Refrigerant charge will be lowered and with better containment

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Conclusions and Perspectives  The three families of commercial refrigeration are following common trends but with significant differences in terms of technical development  High-GWP Refrigerants • Are still dominant • Will be replaced within the next ten years in Europe  Energy efficiency is a driver as well as the Refrigerant GWP • Eco label will be issued in Europe for stand-alone equipment and for condensing units • New supermarkets seek to be energy efficient • Refrigeration will be connected to heat pumping CCAC – 8th December 2012

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Conclusions and Perspectives  Containment and recovery • Are long-term options for all refrigerant types • Containment is meaningful for economy, safety, and environment  Refrigerant quality management • Is part of quality management • Is part of environmental management • Is part of safety management • Is applicable to all refrigerants  The 4th change of refrigerant is under way • Phase down of high global warming refrigerants is widely accepted • Lessons learned have to be disseminated on a continuous basis.

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