Case study
L.A. FARM Greek dairy
A cooler dairy with natural refrigerants
Key information
Client:
L.A. Farm S.A., Thessaly, Greece
Supplier:
Alfa Laval, KRAHN Specialty Fluids AB, AT&C Agencies, Cool Dynamic
Consultant:
EcoRef Engineering Consultants
Type of facility:
Refrigerated logistics center
System start-up:
2019
L.A. Farm S.A., a growing dairy company in Thessaly, Greece, prioritized sustainability and energy efficiency in the development of its new 14,000 m² refrigerated logistics center. Collaborating with EcoRef, AT&C Agencies, and Cool Dynamic, the company that had once started as a family enterprise implemented a refrigeration system with ammonia as refrigerant and CRANE Temper as heat transfer fluid using Alfa Laval technology. The system was designed to minimize environmental impact while supporting the company’s mission of delivering high-quality dairy products with low carbon footprint.
Requirements
For the new 14,000 m² refrigerated logistics center, L.A. Farm requested an environmentally friendly solution based on the use of natural refrigerants with the goal to:
Implement a refrigeration system with minimal Global Warming Potential (GWP)
Achieve high energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness
Ensure operational and staff safety as well as system reliability
Support full refrigeration capacity with 100% redundancy
Comply with environmental and safety standards in line with community values
Solution
A compact, low-charge ammonia system was installed using two Alfa Laval TK20 semi-welded plate heat exchangers with U-Turn separators, supported by a secondary cooling loop with CRANE Temper -15 fluid. Specifically, the system was connected via liquid evaporators to a secondary heat transfer fluid circuit, on the cold side. CRANE Temper -15 is used as secondary fluid, cooled from a return temperature of -3 °C down to a supply temperature of -7 °C - instead of ammonia circulating the cold storage plant. This configuration enabled reduced ammonia use by employing highly efficient separation and low-pressure-drop technology. The design allowed for precise temperature control, reduced refrigerant volume, and reliable performance even under partial load conditions.
Key Benefits and Features:
Zero GWP ammonia refrigerant with high thermal efficiency
680 kg total ammonia charge for the entire system, under 0.3 kg/kW
Energy savings of 340 MWh/year, reducing CO₂ emissions by ~300 tons/year
High COP of 3.9, enabling excellent performance at varying loads
Future-proof, safe design aligned with modern trends in sustainable refrigeration
Technical data
Refrigerant charge:
680kg ammonia
Main components:
4 Sabroe compressors with inverter motor producing 390 kW each at 1,800 rpm
2 Mita Axial Evaporative condensers of 2,200 kW heat rejection
Defrost function with an Alfa Laval AlfaNova fusion bonded heat exchanger using ammonia discharge energy
2 Alfa Laval TK20-BW semi welded plate heat exchangers of 1,400 kW, equipped with U-turn ammonia evaporation gravity separator module
KRAHN Specialty Fluids CRANE Temper-15 as heat transfer fluid
