Hydrocarbon refrigeration sweeps the board at RAC Industry Cooling Awards 2012

Launched in 2004 the RAC Cooling Industry Awards are coveted for their recognition of the very latest technologies and developments in environmentally friendly cooling and heating. 2012 was a bumper edition for natural refrigerants, with hydrocarbons picking up awards in many categories ranging from International Achievement of the Year to Refrigeration Innovation and Product of the Year.

Retail Project of the Year

The judges gave high praise to the winner of the Retail Project of the Year, the Stanground store by Morrisons and Arctic Circle, which includes a hydrocarbon mini pack, with optimised controls for the convenience, used in the petrol station forecourt store. The Stanground store was also a finalist in the Environmental Collaboration of the Year and Low Carbon Achievement of the Year awards.

International Achievement of the Year

Tesco Thailand and Carter Retail Equipment’s Water-Cooled Hydrocarbon Refrigeration Solution was recognised for its use of hydrocarbon refrigerants and the pursuit of ‘zero carbon’ store building in a region where advanced skills may be limited. The system is simple, reliable and energy efficient. Data shows a 25% reduction in emissions versus a traditional system. Moreover, the refrigerant charge was just 7.7 kg and leak rate was almost zero, against a 10-15 per cent regional benchmark.

For the store design Waitrose shared information with Carter and a UK task force travelled to Thailand to apply standards and training.

Training Initiative of the Year

For the second time WR Refrigeration won the Training Initiative of the year category. The WR facility near Birmingham has a rig that comprises a 64 kW Hidros chiller running on HFO1234ze, providing chilled water as the condensing medium for the CO₂ plant and hydrocarbon integrated cabinets. WR will also be offering the City and Guilds course in hydrocarbon refrigerants. Judges were particularly pleased that WR is offering the facility to those outside of its own supply base. “A useful training initiative and one that is open to the whole industry,” they said.

WR Refrigeration was also a finalist in the RAC Contractor of the Year award.

The Co-operative Group highly commended in 4 categories

The new head office building of the Co-operative Group in Manchester has achieved the BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) ‘Outstanding’ rating and is aiming for BREEAM outstanding for ‘in use’. Along with hydrocarbon chillers, the building features CHP with absorption chillers, extensive heat recovery and free cooling. At the RAC Cooling Awards the building has been highly commended by judges in two categories:

Air Conditioning / Heat Pump Project of the Year
Industrial and Commercial Project of the Year

The Piccadilly Garden store has also been highly commended in two categories:

Retail Project of the Year
Low carbon achievement of the Year
And was a finalist in Environmental Collaboration of the Year award.

The Piccadilly Gardens store incorporates an R290 hydrocarbon primary that chills a glycol mix via a plate heat exchanger to distribute to the cases, fitted with glycol coils. A second glycol circuit takes the rejected refrigeration heat and distributes it around the store for heating. The use of glycol cuts the store refrigerant charge by 70 per cent to 18 kg – and reduces the risk of leakage – while reducing refrigeration energy by as much as 50 per cent and energy bills by around 30 per cent.

Refrigeration Innovation of the Year - System or Standalone

Foster’s new version of its flagship hydrocarbon refrigerator range, the EcoPro G2 was the winner in the System or Standalone category, chosen for its combination of refrigeration engineering and ‘low-carbon thinking’. The refrigerator range incorporates:

Improved airflow distribution
Highventilation compressor housing
Sophisticated magnetic door gasket that reduces heat loss – improving energy efficiency by 10 per cent over its predecessor.

Refrigeration Product of the Year

The winner of this category, the Unitary Range Mark II by Adande Refrigeration, incorporates a modified airflow pattern and hydrocarbon refrigerant R600a, improving efficiency by another 19% over its Mark1 model.

Environmental Pioneer of the Year

Categeory winner Chris Green, who leads Arctic Circle’s Engineering Department, has helped develop hydrocarbon chillers, and is on the steering group for the BRA on its guide to flammable refrigerants. Chris Playford, a category finalist, was nominated for his instrumental role in pioneering the use of hydrocarbons in the Foster refrigeration range.