Eco-efficiency comparison of supermarket architectures.

Commercial refrigeration has been under scrutiny by politicians and regulators around the world, because of the use of high global-warming-potential (GWP) fluids like R-404A and also because of the high leak rates. In Europe the F-Gas regulation bans high GWP refrigerants, and also aims to phase down use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) based on their CO2 equivalent. It is clear that the use of refrigerants with lower GWP will provide more sustainable solutions in this segment. To respond to the challenges of the F-Gas regulation and to reduce energy consumption in commercial refrigeration, many new architectures are under investigation and development.

Current solutions available that can be used to help the commercial sector to meet F-Gas targets, are twofold. For existing R-404A systems, retrofitting with a lower GWP refrigerant is the quickest, most economical and environmentally-friendly solution.

For new builds, several architectures are being explored. The combination of R-744 with newly-developed hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs) and HFO blends offers added benefits of safety and performance.

Examples of such applications and architectures will be presented, and the concept of eco-efficiency will be introduced and used as a basis to compare the financial and environmental impacts of the various architectures.