Somatref, located in the South East of France, have invested in a R134a/CO₂ cascade system as a replacement refrigeration system for one of their cold stores. This innovative technology achieves high efficiency and coats savings, was granted financial support from the French government.

Somatref, active in the cold storage industry since 1975, has 36,000 m³ of storage capacity at -21°C, 4,000m³ of dry storage, and 1000m² of dock space at controlled temperature (+2°C/+6°C).The warehouse was using an R22 recirculating pump system with an evaporative condenser and using R404a for direct expansion and condensing.

In 2012 the company had to replace part of its system using R22 following European Regulation N° 2037/2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer, whereby as from 1 January 2015 it will be illegal to use recycled or reclaimed HCFCs to service RAC equipment . Agnes Pironti, Somatref owner, requested that consultancy Af consulting provide them a range of possible alternative solution, including a drop in solution 422D (Isceon MO29), cascade NH₃/CO₂ and R507 retrofit.

Cascade R134a/CO₂ solution reduces costs by €300,000

The R134a/CO₂ solution with hot gas defrost was selected as the best solution for Somatref who decided to install a system provided by Axima Refrigeration, a leading installer of cold storage solutions. The installation features a flooded evaporator.

A cost-benefit analysis of the project revealed the following:

·A premium of €200,000 (purchase costs included) for the cascade solution compared with extending the lifetime of the R22 system (not possible)

·Savings of €300,000 when compared to the scenario with the smallest purchase cost.

Af consulting took the initiative to request grants at the regional, national and EU-level based on the innovative technology used and improved efficiency. ADEME and Europe financially helped this system to be purchased and installed.

Advantages of cascade R134a/CO₂ system

The new R134a/CO₂ system, which is predicted will have a paybakc period of 8 years, provides the following benefits:

·Saving 22% in energy costs when compared to the R22 system.

·100% water savings. No more water is used in the system, as the new system does not need an evaporative condenser

Somatref also took the initiative to apply ISO 50001 rules to sustainits systems performance and develop a complementary energy saving plan.

Optimised CO₂ refrigeration system

Somatref has also purchased 20,000m³ of storage capacity for freezing 9,000m³ of coldstorage space for medium temperature cooling, for which they have decided to install a CO2 cascade system with defrost using hot glycol.

For this and all CO₂ refrigeration systems performance has been optimised thanks to the addition of variable speed compressors, reliable evaporators with a low delta T, heat recovery, and advanced system controls. Refrigerant charge has also been reduced.

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