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Colossal Industrial Transcritical CO2 System Custom-Made for Yosemite Foods The 4MW (1,137.38TR) system, one of the largest-capacity transcritical configurations in the world, operates well in warm ambient temperatures and generates considerable heat reclaim. — by Ilana Koeglenberg
In
2017, Owner Michael Lau and his team at Yosemite Foods Inc. (formerly Yosemite Meat Co.), based in Modesto in central California (U.S.) had a vision: to expand this family-owned pork processing company with a larger, state-of-the-art facility, allowing space for business growth, improved efficiency and the ability to have future capacity available. They found what they were seeking 31 miles northwest – an abandoned facility in Stockton, California. In 2018, Yosemite contracted with Commercial Refrigeration Services (CRS)/Sphere, a South Africa-based manufacturer, to design, manufacture and ship five transcritical CO 2 refrigeration racks amounting to 4MW (1,137TR) of
REASONS FOR CO 2 cooling capacity to the Stockton facility. California-based contractor Coolsys did the installation. It is one of the largest transcritical installation in terms of cooling capacity in the world. The system was commissioned In April 2019. Yosemite has stated it is happy with the way it is running, as it is quiet and is showing signs of being energy efficient. “So far, the system has performed to expectations providing refrigerated cooling for product storage and hot water through heat recovery,” said Lau last October.
At its Modesto facility, Yosemite, like many large food processors, uses an old ammonia system. Why did it choose transcritical CO 2 for the new location? Yosemite had a number of criteria for its new refrigeration system. It had to: Be environmentally best-in-class. Be safe. Use a non-corrosive substance as the refrigerant. Eliminate as many emergency and lifesafety issues as possible. Generate a significant amount of reclaimed heat. Be cost effective on both first and operating costs.
March 2020 // Accelerate Magazine