TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Food Chain
Food Production, Processing & Cold
Storage
NH 3
: Traditionally, ammonia-based industrial refrigeration
has been the norm in the food processing and preservation
industries, given its relatively low capital cost
combined with excellent operating performance. Over
80% of the industrial refrigeration and cold storage industry
- together with CO 2
and hydrocarbon refrigerants
- use ammonia refrigeration plants in developed countries,
whereas the market share in developing countries
is at 40%. In the food processing industry ammonia can
be found in fish, meat and poultry processing plants,
confectionary factories, fresh milk and dairy production
facilities, wineries and breweries.
Types of installations found in these factories include
ammonia blast freezers, spiral freezers, plate freezers,
and freezing tunnels. NH 3
is also used in ice flake machines.
Many food processing ammonia refrigeration
plants now use an integrated heat and refrigeration system.
As regards their geographic distribution, NH 3
systems
are largely used in the USA, Northern Europe, and
Central and Western Europe. In Eastern Europe, including
Russia, a traditionally strong ammonia refrigeration
engineering base can be found. India uses NH 3
systems
to a some extent, with NH 3
used for quick freezing in one
of the country’s largest food parks. In addition, large NH 3
heat pumps have been used in 5% of industrial air-conditioning
systems and in 30% of all applications in developed
countries.
CO 2
: R744-only refrigeration systems are still used to a
lesser extent in the food storage and processing industries
and especially in those regions where the use of ammonia
is restricted. CO 2
is also used for deep freeze storage
and in blast freezers, and in ammonia/CO 2
cascade
systems. Market share of CO 2
for industrial refrigeration
is at 10% in developed and 0% in developing countries;
and for heat pumps 5% and 0%, respectively. Currently
the potential of high-capacity carbon dioxide chillers is
being investigated, as an alternative to NH 3
chillers. Also
within the food industry, CO 2
transcritical heat pump
dryers are being used for product drying where they
ensure that quality and texture of substances as varied
as pharmaceuticals, fruits or pet food can be preserved.
CO 2
can also be used in heating and cooling systems in
wine production, such as an integrated CO 2
heat pump,
adiabatic fluid cooler and glycol chiller system used in
California. Ice flaking machines using carbon dioxide
refrigerants have been commercialised and are gaining
market share.
NH 3
/ CO 2
: In Europe several cold storage facilities have
been equipped with CO 2
/ NH 3
cascade systems, using
ammonia at the high stage and carbon dioxide at the
low stage. CO 2
is also being used as a secondary refrigerant
that is circulated in cold store rooms with the primary
refrigerant typically ammonia — confined to the machinary
room.
HC: Propane has been used in industrial refrigeration and
cooling applications, especially in large chillers where
they have been available for over 10 years. As an example
from the dairy industry there is a hydrocarbon refrigeration
demonstration project for milk coolers in Indonesia.
Market share in industrial refrigeration is estimated to be
at 0-2% worldwide; for industrial air-conditioning at 10%
for developed countries and 5% for developing countries.
Again, inadequate technicians’ training impede a
more wide-spread use of HCs in various countries.
Road Transport Refrigeration
CO 2
/ HC: Road transport refrigeration is a niche market
with special requirements in terms of equipment robustness,
weight or corrosion resistance. The market for CO 2
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