BrewDog, a Scottish multinational brewer, has commissioned a transcritical CO2 (R744) refrigeration system at its Eurocentral cold-storage facility in Scotland, according to a press release on May 31.
The 80,000-m3 (2.8 million-ft3) warehouse is billed as Europe’s first fully refrigerated beer warehouse.
The CO2 system was installed by Star Refrigeration, a U.K.-based industrial refrigeration system supplier.
Euan Duncan, technical sales engineer for Star Refrigeration in Scotland, said that the transcritical CO2 system was commissioned in November of 2018.
CO2 was chosen over ammonia because it allowed for a “significant cut to the weight suspended from the building structure in comparison to an ammonia/glycol solution,” Duncan said.
In addition, the low toxicity of CO2 allowed Star Refrigeration to avoid the need to cool a secondary refrigerant.
“This resulted in a 3°C higher suction temperature which minimized the efficiency gap between CO2 and ammonia,” he added.
BrewDog was “very keen to install an eco-cooling solution using natural refrigerants,” the press release said.
“Star Refrigeration delivered an energy efficient, financially viable and environmentally responsible solution,” said Niall Murphie, engineering manager at BrewDog. “This allows us to remain uniquely placed to serve the needs of beer lovers all over the country and beyond, helping to spread our passion for craft beer to every corner of the globe.”
“CO2 was deemed the safest and most cost effective option for the new plant,” the press release said. “It can cool the building to the necessary temperature without the hazards of other refrigerants such as ammonia, and the smaller pipe work for the application saved on steelwork and installation costs.”
Compared to a traditional ammonia/glycol system, “the end product delivered financial savings of 30%,” added the statement.
