Pinneys of Scotland

Supplier: Star Refrigeration
Refrigerant: Ammonia (NH3)
Cooling capacity: 125 kW
System start-up: 2014

Requirements

Pinneys of Scotland is a part of the Young’s Seafood Group and one of the UK’s largest processing companies for smoked Scottish salmon, chilled fish based meals and products. The company, which headquarters are in Annan, Dumfriesshire, holds the Royal Warrant to supply smoked salmon to the Queen.

Until now, the company has been using an R22-based refrigeration system in a cold store for holding incoming raw material prior to processing and dispatching. In response to the statutory phase down of the refrigerant R22, Pinneys of Scotland looked for an economically expedient and future-proof alternative to the existing refrigeration system. A particular challenge for the eurammon member company Star Refrigeration was to install the new system in a relatively restricted space and during operation.

Solution

After an extensive analysis of the general conditions, Pinneys of Scotland decided against a retrofit solution due to costs associated with the advanced age of the old system. New plant systems with synthetic refrigerants such as R404A and R407F were also rejected due to possibly even stricter f-gas restrictions in the future. Pinneys of Scotland found the ideal solution in an air-cooled ammonia refrigeration system by Star Refrigeration. Due to the compact system design, it was possible to install the new refrigeration system in the existing premised even before the old system had been dismantled, so that the conversion did not interrupt production.

Thanks to a special system design – a combination of low-pressure receiver technology, EC-fan and PLC control technology – the refrigeration system is 15% to 20% more efficient than traditional systems with HFC-technology. In addition, the new refrigeration system can be operated with a very low ammonia charge. In comparison to pump-driven ammonia circuits, the new system requires around 80% less refrigerant. In operation, the new system not only proves its efficiency and environment-friendliness, but also its capability and precision. Since the introduction of the new refrigeration system, the temperature stability in the cold stores has significantly improved.