BT1: Research Project Testing and monitoring of an energy efficient indirect evaporative CO2 refrigeration system at a Coles supermarket Report at a glance
RACE for Business
Research Theme: BT2: Decarbonising businesses and supply chains
ISBN: 978-1-922746-54-2
Industry Report
Testing and monitoring of an energy efficient indirect evaporative CO2 refrigeration system at a Coles supermarket
Citation
Lau, T., Alemu, A., Bruno, F., Chuvan, T., Evans, M., Gilbert, R., J., Leak, J., Leonardis, C., Liddle, R., Liu, A., Rainey, T., Semsarilar, H., Xing, K. (2024).
Testing and monitoring of an energy efficient indirect evaporative CO2 refrigeration system at a Coles supermarket
Prepared for RACE for 2030
July 2024
Project partners
Acknowledgements
Project team
UniSA
• Dr Timothy Lau
• A/Prof Ke Xing
• Dr Michael Evans
• Prof Frank Bruno
• Mr Hesam Semsarilar
• Mr Raymond Liddle
QUT
• Dr Aaron Liu
• A/Prof Thomas Rainey
• Dr Alireza Taghipour
• Mr Thuy Chuvan
Seeley International
• Mr Rob Gilbert
• Mr Clint Leonardis
Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity (A2EP)
• Mr Jarrod Leak
The research team would like to thank the industry reference group participants from the following organisations: Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH), Alfa Laval, Australian Meat Processing Corporation (AMPC), Coca Cola Amatil, Dairy Australia, Health Infrastructure (NSW), Mater Group and the Refrigerated Warehouse and Transport Association
Acknowledgement of Country
The authors of this report would like to respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the ancestral lands throughout Australia and their connection to land, sea and community. We recognise their continuing connection to the land, waters and culture and pay our respects to them, their cultures and to their Elders past, present, and emerging.
What is RACE for 2030?
RACE for 2030 CRC is a 10-year co-operative research centre with AUD350 million of resources to fund research towards a reliable, affordable, and clean energy future. https://www.racefor2030.com.au
Disclaimer
The authors have used all due care and skill to ensure the material is accurate as at the date of this report. The authors do not accept any responsibility for any loss that may arise by anyone relying upon its contents.
Report at a glance
What is in the report?
This report outlines details of the installation and subsequent testing and monitoring of a first-of-a-kind refrigeration system, which integrates a natural, low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant (CO2), with indirect evaporative coolers, to deliver energy efficient cooling at a Coles supermarket in South Australia.
In particular, the report discusses the lessons learned during the design, assembly and commissioning of this fullscale pilot plant, and importantly, provides details of the performance of this system supported by measurements obtained from its array of energy and thermal sensors across an 8-month monitoring period.
Furthermore, the report also outlines the development of a detailed computational model of the novel refrigeration system and discusses the results of the model when it is applied to a range of different climate conditions and across different industries.
Why is it important?
The heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC-R) sector is a significant contributor to Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, with the process of refrigeration being a significant contributor to energy costs within Australia’s cold chain.
As such, the present work is important because it demonstrates that the novel dew point CO2 (DP-CO2) refrigeration system can deliver reliable, energy efficient refrigeration at full scale, under real, practical conditions. The present work is also unique in that it provides direct measurements of the DP -CO2 performance across multiple seasons, thereby increasing sector confidence in the system, while also enabling industry to make informed decisions on the uptake of this technology for their own conditions .
What did we do?
We designed, manufactured, delivered and commissioned a first-of-a-kind dew point CO2 refrigeration system at a Coles supermarket in South Australia, and monitored its performance across multiple seasons within the year. We analysed the data from the monitoring system – which comprises some 115 individual sensors recording data at an interval of 10 seconds – and used this data to provide insights on the performance of the system, including its energy efficiency relative to conventional CO2 refrigeration systems.
Using the data, we also developed a detailed, accurate computational model of the DP-CO2 system, and used this model to demonstrate the efficacy of the DP-CO2 system under various conditions and climates across Australia.
What difference will it make?
The preliminary results indicate that the DP-CO2 system will reduce energy consumption of Coles’ refrigeration system by up to 19% across the year compared to a conventional CO2 refrigeration system. Given that the HVAC-R sectors accounts for approximately a quarter of Australia’s energy consumption, the demonstration of the efficiency of the DP-CO2 system under real conditions will increase sector uptake of this technology, and thereby significantly reduced Australia’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
What next?
The next steps will involve further delve into the monitoring data, and to use the data to better understand and to further optimize the performance of the DP-CO2 conditions. This information will then be used to provide more detailed performance predictions for specific climates and operating conditions.
