At a new 1.200 m2 Kanguro supermarket in Belluno, Italy, a transcritical CO2 booster system equipped with ejectors, parallel compression and inverter technology recorded an energy savings of 28% compared to an ordinary transcritical CO2 system.
“Our client is happy with the performance of the installation,” said Franco Zambon, technical director of Italian manufacturer De Rigo Refrigeration, which provided the system.
The store – located a few miles from Venice – “represents a showroom of all our innovative products developed thanks to our recent significant investments in R&D for natural refrigerants-based products,” said Valentina Nicolao, marketing manager for De Rigo. The transcritical system is managed remotely on a continuous basis from the De Rigo service operations centre.
Add-ons like ejectors, parallel compression and inverters enable the transcritical system to operate more efficiently in warm ambient temperatures like those found in Italy.
De Rigo managed the installation of all the pipes, electric cables and controlling unit of the heating and cooling system at the store, which opened in January, added Zambon.
De Rigo, the third biggest manufacturer of commercial refrigeration devices in Italy, has been working in the sector for over 50 years, producing display cabinets, plug-in units and cold rooms, and providing technical assistance. The products are entirely designed and produced in Italy – “100% made in Italy”, proudly commented Nicolao – and then commercialized in Europe, South America and the Mediterranean basin.
The company has decided to use exclusively CO2 refrigerant for its new supermarket applications, and is also producing propane-based plug-in cabinets. A revision of the hydrocarbon charge limit posed by current standards for commercial cabinets would lead to a significant expansion of the market for propane-based systems, noted Zambon.
De Rigo is still producing systems using R404, R408 and R409 for some of its clients in developing countries, “where local installers are not yet familiar with natural refrigerants,” said Zambon.
Zambon also explained that the company prefers not to work with ammonia given the problems linked to toxicity and the indoor use of the systems De Rigo is manufacturing.
