• Optimizing Refrigeration Equipment in the Field

    Sept. 12, 2013
    Attendees learned how the changing landscape in energy consumption has helped lead to recent advances in refrigeration system components.

    Andre Patenaude, director of marketing, Canada, Emerson Climate Technologies, spoke at the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada’s (HRAI) 45th annual meeting and conference held in Vancouver in August.

    Patenaude spoke about optimizing refrigeration equipment in the field, through both upgrading existing equipment and installing new equipment, and attendees learned how the changing landscape in energy consumption has helped lead to recent advances in refrigeration system components.

    Specifically, he discussed how supermarkets, convenience stores and commercial HVAC environments can increase efficiency and lower maintenance costs, resulting in increased profitability by:

    • introducing digital compressors (such as the Copeland Discus Digital and Copeland Scroll Digital) into a refrigeration system, allowing the system to specifically match the capacity being generated to the required load
    • using on-board electronic monitoring and communications tools, such as Emerson’s CoreSense
    • installing superheat controllers with Emerson EX electronic valves to stabilize temperature and humidity levels
    • using compressors with a digital controller to deliver precise capacity control by eliminating less accurate mechanical controls
    • reducing compression ratio by implementing floating head pressure to match ambient temperatures.

    Patenaude shared the following stories from the field:

    • A food retailer that increased the shelf life of its product, achieved an energy reduction of more than 60% and qualified for energy rebate programs by adding doors to its 36 feet of dairy cases, replacing a 10-hp fixed capacity compressor with a 5-hp Copeland Digital Scroll and adding a Digital Scroll Controller.
    • A regional food market that reduced the number of cycles of its refrigeration rack from 900/day to 4/day and achieved a 10% reduction in energy costs by retrofitting its existing system with a Copeland Discus Digital compressor with CoreSense technology
    • In another example, a cold storage warehouse that calculated energy savings of $240,000 annually by taking advantage of low ambient temperatures and installing a Copeland Discus III compressor, an Emerson electronic EX Valve on each evaporator and lowering the setting on the VFD condenser fan control to 60F SCT minimum.