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Refrigeration systems in supermarkets with propane and CO2 energy consumption and economy
Kim G. Christensen, Danish Technological Institute, P. Bertilsen, Danfoss Danmark Abstract: Due to the introduced tax on HFC refrigerants in Denmark and the future ban (1 January 2007) on these refrigerants in new installations above 10 kg, the countrys market for commercial refrigeration is experiencing considerable changes. New systems with natural refrigerants are thus being developed and tested. In 2000, new refrigeration technology was implemented in a small supermarket, DagliBrugsen, in Odense, Denmark. The system has been in operation since then and has demonstrated that it is possible to build cascade systems based on propane and carbon dioxide (CO2). The small supermarket was, however, very atypical for which reason it was difficult within the frames of the project of that time to provide qualified conclusions concerning energy consumption and economy. Therefore, it was decided to carry out a similar project in a typical supermarket in order to provide comparative data from new conventional systems based on direct expansion and with modern scroll compressors. The project was carried out in cooperation with Super Kl, Danish Technological Institute and COOP Denmark FDB (Fakta) and was finalised in 2001. The project was furthermore partly financed by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. The supermarkets of the Fakta retail chain (in total 238 supermarkets) have the advantage that the newest ones are very standardised and a statistical comparison can therefore be carried out with great certainty. The project showed very interesting results. Energy consumption decreased by approximately 5% compared to an average, conventional and comparable supermarket. The investment was 20% higher in the actual case, but is estimated to be only 10% higher in the future. In large supermarkets, the increase in the investment is expected to approach zero. The previous project focused on investigation of function and operation, whereas this project focused on documentation of the system with regard to energy consumption and economy. Keywords: natural refrigerants, propane, carbon dioxide, supermarket refrigeration, energy efficiency.

Introduction
This paper will cover the experience from the two demonstration projects in supermarkets in Denmark. The system design, refrigerants and components will be described and conclusions on energy consumption and economy will be made. Suction gas cooled semihermetic compressors (C1 and C2 for propane and C3 for CO2) are used for both propane and CO2. The propane compressors are equipped with an oil pump, while the CO2 compressor is splash lubricated. The refrigeration system is built on a compressor rack, where compressors, cascade exchanger, brine cooler, brine pump, valves and vessel are mounted. The aggregate is set up in a separate machine room from where pipes and tubes connect the cabinets to the system. The components which contain propane are built in a ventilated box. The propane system operates with two evaporators: one cascade exchanger (HX2) and one brine cooler (HX1). The cascade exchanger and the brine cooler are both plate heat exchangers. On both exchangers, electronic expansion valves are used for injection of refrigerant. The valves are controlled by superheat. A special algorithm controls the valve for the cascade heat exchanger during start up to ensure an effective condensation of CO2 and to avoid to high pressures (max. 32 bar).

System design
The system which is set up in Fakta Beder is constructed as a cascade system. Propane is used at the high temperature level (14/25C), while CO2 is used at the low temperature level (32/10C). Propane is compressed by two reciprocating compressors (C1 and C2) in Figure 1 (opposite) and condenses directly in an air-cooled condenser (HX3) on the roof of the supermarket. The two refrigerants exchange heat in the cascade heat exchanger (HX2) in which propane evaporates during dry expansion while CO2 condenses. CO2 is used directly in the low-temperature cabinets (F1 to F3) and cold stores of the supermarket, while propane heat exchanges to an indirect system with glycol (HX1). Glycol is pumped (brine pumps) in a closed system to the hightemperature cabinets and cold stores (K1 to K6).

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Figure 1 outline of the cascade system Furthermore, the propane system is built without an oil separator. A mineral oil is used which is fully miscible with propane. The miscibility and compactness of the propane system ensures return of the oil the compressor from the evaporators. An identical oil level between the compressors is ensured by means of mounted pressure and level equalisation pipes. The internal plate heat exchanger ensures sub-cooling of the propane liquid before the expansion valves and superheating of the suction gas to the compressor. Compression with propane gives very low compressed gas temperatures, and therefore

without an internal exchanger the compressor will be relatively cold with high solubility of refrigerant in the oil as a result. This may reduce the lubricity of the oil and increase the amount of oil transported from the compressor to the system. In addition, the compressor is supplied with a relatively large electric heating element for the oil sump during standstill. Finally, a filter dryer and a dirt filter are mounted in the liquid line of the system, and the system is built without a receiver. The CO2 system is constructed as a traditional refrigeration system. The cascade exchanger functions as the condenser of the CO2 system, where CO2 condenses against evaporating propane. The liquid circulates to the evaporators located in the

Air-on

Capacity [W] Cooling Freezing (20C) 4200 2800 14400 2200 800 1400 700 21000 10000

Dimensions

[C] Multideck with cold store behind (glass doors), cooling Multideck with cold store behind (glass doors), freezing Multideck with cold store behind (glass doors), ice cream Open multideck Low-temperature cabinet Low-temperature cabinet High-temperature cabinet High-temperature cabinet In total Table 1 cabinet data 2C 26C 28C 2C 27C 27C 2C 2C

(+2C) 4500 -

LxWxH [mm3] 5100x3300x260 3600x3300x2450 2100x3300x2450 10 m in length 3750x1000x960 1985x1000x960 3750x1000x960 1985x1000x960

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Technical propylene glycol: inhibited and approved for foods non-toxic, but should not be drunk, non-flammable the concentration is 40% wt. (freezing point at 21C), inhibited and approved for foods by Danish food authorities. The propylene glycol selected is compatible with normally used metals (copper, steel and brass), plastics and elastomers such as polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE) and acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene (ABS).

Cabinets and heat exchangers

The evaporators are modified to the refrigerant (brine/CO2). This applies both to the evaporators for the cold stores and for the cabinets. All the evaporators for CO2 are made as traditional fin coils with 3/8 copper tubes and aluminium fins. The cold stores are equipped with individual exchangers. Pulse width modulated valves control all the exchangers. The valve for injection of CO2 uses a cycle time of six seconds, while the valve for brine uses a cycle time of six minutes.

Figure 2 compressor rack, including pumps, heat exchangers and receiver low-temperature cabinets and cold stores of the supermarket. As injection valves, pulse width modulated valves are used where a superheating of 8 K is maintained. The gas is then sucked back to the compressor. The system does not have an oil separator. The amount for oil carried over into the system is in the range of parts per million. Intelligent mounting of the pipe system and the use of liquid locks and risers ensures oil return to the compressor. The amount of oil entering the system will due to fine solubility with the refrigerant (ester- oil/CO2 ) and relatively high gas velocities be transported with the refrigerant back to the compressor. The first system in Odense had an oil separator, but no problems have been observed when an oil separator is omitted.

Refrigerants
The refrigeration system of the supermarket uses the following refrigerants: Propane (R290): min. 97.5% pure propane less than 50 ppm of humidity in the system odourless and non-toxic gas, explosion limits of 2.1-9.5% v/v (0.038-0.171 kg/m3), automatic ignition temperature is at 470C the gas is heavier than air and will therefore settle at the lowest level. CO2 (R744): 99.9% pure CO2, less than 50 ppm of humidity in the system odourless and non-toxic, but the gas can be dangerous to human beings at higher concentrations than 0.5% v/v heavier than air. Attention should be paid to the fact that expansion of liquid to pressures lower than 5.18 bar (56,6C triple point) develops solid phase (dry ice), critical temperature and pressure of CO2 at 31C and 73.8 bar. Figure 3 - the new supermarket (without products)

Construction of the system

In connection with the system construction, Directive 97/23/EF of the European Council (i.e. the so-called Pressure Equipment Directive) is used. The Pressure Equipment Directive is adopted in Danish legislation by Bekendtgrelse nr. 743/99 (Danish executive order no. 743/99). On the other hand, the use of pressurised equipment is a public affair and in this case Bekendtgrelse nr. 746 (Danish executive order no. 746) applies at present. A calculation method for supporting the most important safety requirements in connection with pipes, fittings and ve ssels is used. The construction is simple, but it has not been possible to procure copper fittings with the required 3.1B certificate. Moreover, it has not been possible to obtain declarations of conformity with regard to valves for propane; only the declaration of the producer stating that the valve is compatible with refrigerants and can stand up to maximum operation pressure. There is, however, a substantial and relatively rapid development in this field, and it is expected that both fittings and other components will be available in the near future both for propane and CO2.

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Both the propane part and the CO2 part are constructed of copper pipes, while the brine part is made of ABS pipes and flexible tubes with regard to the connections to the heat exchangers of the cabinets. In the brine system, automatic and manual balancing valves are mounted in each circuit. The valves must ensure uniform pressure loss in each circuit. The problem with unequal load on the substrings has become more pronounced in large brine systems. The expansion valves for the two propane evaporators (brine cooler and cascade exchanger) use their own controller, where the superheat is used as input signal. In the injection valve on the cascade exchanger, both an ETRE valve from Danfoss and an electronic Siemens-Staefa valve which is controlled by a Siemens controller (PolyCool) are used. Work is still being carried out on the optimum control of the cascade exchanger. During start-up of the CO2 system, the pressure on the CO2 side increases quickly. The superheating signal on the propane side increases more slowly as a result of a high proportional band, and the CO2 compressor stops at high pressure. The high proportional band is necessary so that the valve does not become too eager, as the compressed gas temperature of CO2 is +45C at the inlet and 10C at the outlet of the exchanger. In order to compensate for the high proportional band, the settings of the derivative action is set high so relatively small changes in the process variable (superheating) give a reaction in the valve. Unfortunately, the valve reacts very quickly by closing when the liquid starts to parboil. It is assessed that it is necessary with a special control of the valve during startup in particular, which is not based on a proportional integral derivative (PID) controller only.

Control
The control of the system is composed of separate controls for compressors and cabinets. The compressors are controlled according to constant suction pressure. The propane system operates at 14C by means of four capacity stages, which give a flow temperature of the brine at approximately 8C and a condensation temperature for the CO2 system at 10C. The condensation temperature of the propane system is kept constant at 25C by means of modulating operation of the ventilators. The CO2 system operates with constant suction pressure at 32C by means of a frequency converter, which can regulate the compressor in the area of 30-60 Hz. The cabinets are controlled depending on the refrigeration system. In the cabinets, fans, pan heater and defrost can be controlled. Moreover, the condenser fan and pump are controlled independently of the compressors. The pump operates with constant differential pressure. Defrost is carried out electrically.

Safety
It is important to take the special properties of propane (flammability) and CO2 into account. This applies in connection with start-up, operation and standstill. In connection with servicing and maintenance, it is very important that the installers have the right qualifications.

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The propane system is built in a ventilated box, where the concentration under all circumstances is maintained below 25% of the lower explosion limit. The zone inside the box is classified as zone 2 with requirements on minimum IP 54 for the electrical equipment and the equipment has intrinsic safety circuits. The safety in connection with the use of propane and CO2 will not be explained further, but is referred to in [1] and [2].

Energy consumption
The supermarkets being the standard of comparison for Fakta Beder, are all of a more recent date and are roughly of the same size. The supermarkets have refrigeration equipment of 32 to 39 metres, i.e. number of cabinet metres, multidecks and cold stores. Eight supermarkets have been selected which are within the standard limits and energy consumption. Energy meters in Fakta Beder In Fakta Beder, the electricity consumption is registered in three places. In addition to the total consumption of the supermarket, the total consumption of the refrigeration installations is registered, i.e. compressors, ventilators, pan heater, lighting in cabinets, pump and defrost heat elements. Furthermore, there is an electrical meter for the brine pump. Sales area: Opening hours per day: 490 m2 (720 m2 in total) 12 hours

Figure 4: energy consumption of the refrigeration system in Fakta Beder compared to the other eight Fakta supermarkets. but the very low energy consumption in November and December is not only explained by these changes. Some of the variations remain unexplained. Possibilities for optimisation The brine cooler as well as the cascade exchanger can be optimised with regard to control. The insufficient control of the brine circuit and the two injection valves result in too many starts/stops of refrigeration of the second propane compressor. The smallest CO2 compressor on the market at present has a capacity of approximately 10 kW during operation at 60 Hz. As our maximum requirement on the freezing is also 10 kW, the only chance for capacity control is by varying the rotational speed. However, it has been demonstrated that the efficiency decreases distinctively during partial load. The decrease in efficiency is naturally due to several circumstances with regard to the compressor. The mechanical losses in the compressor are almost independent of the rotational speed and will therefore have relatively greater influence with a smaller mass flow. Moreover, the losses in the electrical motor will be increased during operation outside the design area. As the system in the supermarket will operate at partial load 95% of the time, these conditions are naturally of significant importance to the total energy consumption of the system.

The consumption of the supermarket in July is distributed as follows:

kW/pcs. hours/day kWh/ July The total energy consumption of the refrigeration system Refrigeration system 1 24 8682 amounts to 8682 kWh/month. Indoor lighting 210 0.058 Units, where the power consumption has 12 a preceding 4531 (~), are Outdoor lighting 10 0.1 12 372of the average values. The values have appeared on the basis Ventilation supermarket 1 consumption 2.62 14repeated starts 1137 of change in in the total energy by the unit. The other values are found on the basis of the type Cash registers 3 0.4 12 446 plate values. Bottle machine 1 1 1 31

Comparison between propane/ and 372 Sundries 1 2 CO2 system 12 conventional systems In total 15571 Table 2 energy consumption Eight very similar supermarkets have been selected for comparison. All supermarkets have been equated to 32 metres of refrigeration equipment. The supermarkets are equipped with modern scroll parallel systems with direct expansion based on R404A. The supermarkets are placed geographically close together and have approximately the same turnover. Energy consumption is measured for the entire supermarket and is corrected for electrical equipment not used for refrigeration. Figure 4 shows the corrected figures for the energy consumption for the eight conventional supermarkets (indicated by percentiles) and for the new supermarket. Variations are mainly due to weather conditions but also the behaviour of the personnel has a huge impact on energy consumption. It can be concluded that the energy consumption for the new system is neutral or less compared to modern and optimised conventional systems with R404A. For the entire period of measurements the energy consumption was 5% less than the average of the eight conventional supermarkets. Some optimisation of the brine circuit was conducted in September and October. This had an impact on the energy consumption,

Figure 5 - the total efficiency of the CO2 compressor (X2KC-3.2) at 30 and 50 Hz, respectively.

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In large systems, where the capacity control can take place by means of start/stop of e.g. four compressors, the operation will be optimal.

Conclusions
It was found that the energy consumption of the new system is neutral or less than conventional R404a systems. The CO2 /propane system and the chosen installation in Fakta Beder amount to an additional investment of between 12% and 20%. The additional investment of the system will be reduced if the total kW requirement increases. It is estimated that the additional investment of the system could be reduced to approx. 10% if the system was three times larger (approx. 60 kW cooling and approx. 30 kW freezing). The success of the project can naturally be measured on the conclusion above, but also the dissemination of the technology to the industry can be included. After the two projects in Odense and Beder have been carried out, the industry has started to build systems for supermarkets based on CO2. The interesting part about the new systems is that CO2 as refrigerant is used both in connection with cooling and freezing. This system was already described in connection with the project in Odense, but at that time it was decided to take one step at a time.

Economy
A very important part of the project is to document extra costs (if any) on the new system. Three main areas primarily influence the total additional charge. 1. Electrical board 2. Assembly refrigeration system 3. Construction refrigeration system Electrical board The electrical board is especially influenced by: Frequency converter and compressor control Construction of safety circuit (due to flammability), special fire indicator (FI) relay AC/DC If the task is simplified and certain component choices are different (especially if AC/DC relay and compressor control are changed to oil control construction) the task is assessed to be solved to index 40 compared to index 56 in the project. Assembly refrigeration system Lack of assembly experience a nd a certain training element of the installers involved in the project influence the refrigeration assembly. It is estimated that refrigeration assembly - when a certain experience is at hand - can be changed to index 75 compared to index 91 in the project. Construction refrigeration system Increased experience with system construction and competition on exchangers and compressors, in particular, are estimated to reduce the index to 90 compared to index 100 in the project. Total project: CO2 / propane Refrigeration system Conventional al HFC system 443 91 534 Total difference % difference

References
[1] Christensen, Kim G.; Nyvad, Jesper, (2000) Demonstation af naturlige klemidler i supermarkeder, Danish Technological Institute, Energy, Danish Energy Agency, J. nr. 731327/99-0199 [2] Kulbrinter i mellemstore kleanlg, Danish EPA, J .nr. M126-0054
This paper was presented at the 2003 International Congress of Refrigeration, organised by the International Institute of Refrigeration. 177 Boulevard Malesherbes, 75017 Paris, France. Web www.iifiir.org, email: iifiir@iifiir.org

EcoLibrium crossword solution

13% 54% 20%

499

56 49 105

Below is the solution to the December/January EcoLibriumTM crossword.

Elec. system 140 In total 639

Table 3 costs of the total project (prices are converted to comparable indexes) It is the extra cost on the electrical system that is significant. For larger installations this will be negligible as the cost of the entire installation rises. It is assessed that the total additional investment for the propane/CO2 system can be reduced to 10%.

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