Supermarket integral system

Requirements

A new integral system was to be developed for a major supermarket chain in Germany. It was to be capable of both cooling and heating the supermarket's stores and also supplying the air conditioning system while meeting stringent environmental standards. At the same time, the operator was looking for a system that complied with the latest environmental standards and was also cost-efficient. The operator was therefore in favour of using the natural refrigerant propane for the new system because it is a refrigerant that does not contribute to global warming or the depletion of the ozone layer.

Solution

Started the design process in 2010 with the objective of developing a prefabricated unit that could also be used in other branches of the supermarket chain. The compact system was developed in such a way as to produce the necessary refrigerating demand for chilling units and cold storage rooms as well as provide air conditioning in the sales areas and supply the underfloor heating. The module uses a 130 kW refrigeration system and a 40 kW heat pump. Cooling is indirect using the secondary refrigerant propylene glycol. If very low temperatures are required, an extra cooling unit can be added to the system as a CO2 cascade.

As a refrigerant, propane convinces across the board: with the new compact system the operator was able to reduce the COequivalent to almost 0. In addition to providing cooling and heating using a refrigerant that doesn't damage the environment, the compact system also achieves high efficiency and additional investment savings. There are already more than 200 of these compact systems in operation in Germany.