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mmonia continues to play a strong role in the US industrial refrigeration industry, while it is also entering into new market segments along with CO 2 , heard participants in this year’s ATMOsphere America conference, held in Long Beach, California (12-14 June 2018). A particular R&D focus in the North American market is currently low - charge ammonia innovations, with many leading end users – Henningsen Cold Storage, Western Gateway Storage and KPAC General – investing in lowering the refrigerant charge of their installations. The motivations for going low-charge among end users at the natural refrigerants conference – organised by shecco (publisher of this magazine) – were various, but many focused on the cost effectiveness of these systems.
Industrial panel, from left to right: Aditi Joshi, Amgen; Ronnie R. Ceballos, KPAC General; Peter Lepschat, Henningsen Cold Storage Co.; David Bornemeier, Western Gateway Storage Co.
David Bornemeier, president of Western Gateway Storage, said installing Evapco’s compact low-charge ammonia solution on the roof of the cold storage company in July 2016 had allowed the firm to save space and invest in new areas. He was the first person to install the system in the US. Investing in the Evapco system freed up space for Western Gateway Storage to enter the packaged ice business. The new revenue stream from the additional space has “increased our revenue,” Bornemeier told the audience during the second day of the conference. Similarly Ronnie R. Ceballos, vice-president and general manager, KPAC General, noted that the additional space gained by using a NXTCOLD low-charge ammonia package had helped his cold storage company too. “With a conventional [ammonia] system you need an engine room,” Ceballos said. “Now we have empty space that’s potential revenue space.”
Prof. Pega Hrnjak, CTS.
Another benefit is the reduced energy costs of low-charge compared to conventional ammonia systems.
Opting for a very different solution, Pete Lepschat of Henningsen Cold Storage explained how the company he works for as director of engineering had been investing in lowering the charge of ammonia in each of its installations and upgrades, but had now decided to move to full CO 2 instead.
“We have only been in operation about five months, [and in these] five months, we have averaged $20,000 [AUD $27,280] [in electricity costs] a month,” Ceballos said. “From an accounting standpoint it looks pretty good,” he pointed out. The company also projects that taking into account liability insurance savings, space savings, energy savings and cost savings, it will save $425,000$482,500 (AUD $570,541-$647,732) compared to a traditional liquid overfeed NH 3 refrigeration system.
Winter 2018 // Accelerate Australia & NZ
Lepschat is hopeful that the installation of a CO 2 transcritical system at his company’s new facility will lead to savings. In installing this system compared to low-charge ammonia, “so far we have had 5-6 weeks of construction saved,” Lepschat said. The CO 2 transcritical system is also $534,000 (AUD $720,333) cheaper than a low-charge ammonia system, he argued.