U.K. contractor Carter Synergy recently contacted German OEM TEKO with a challenging proposal — to come up with a refrigeration solution for a Tesco Metro store, with a footprint small enough to install it with a crane on the roof of a 7-storey building, which is located in a city center with streets too narrow for most cranes.
The Tesco Metro store is located on the ground, basement and first floors of a building in central Birmingham, West Midlands, U.K., but without space for a plant room on the same floors, meaning the installation had to be on the roof, seven floors up and 40 meters in from the nearest (very narrow) street.
Jumping at the challenge, TEKO designed a solution utilizing two of its ROXSTAcube transcritical CO2 units, which met the criteria that each unit must weight no more than 2,200kg (4,850lbs), in order to comply with the maximum load weight of a crane able to enter the narrow streets around the shop.
The system, which was installed earlier this year, has one MT unit with a capacity of 48.2kW (13.7TR) at an evaporation temperature of -7°C (19.4°F), and one MT/LT unit with 85.3kW (24.3TR) medium-temperature capacity (at -7°C) and 6.9kW (1.96TR) low-temperature capacity at -34°C (-29.2°F). The new CO2 refrigeration system replaces three old HFC units.
However, the challenges didn’t end there. “Once the required road closures had been organized and the crane positioned, the transport team began the process of erecting and preparing for the lift,” TEKO said on its website. “Unfortunately, the first snow of the year promptly started to fall, and the planned lift had to be cancelled.”
Instead, the team worked on the removal of the three old refrigeration units, and another lift was organized a few days later, moving the new CO2 system into place without further incident.
“The project required a real collaborative effort, and the successful completion was only achieved due to the support and professionalism of all involved,” said Shaun Law, Business Development Design Principal at Carter Synergy.
“The project required a real collaborative effort, and the successful completion was only achieved due to support and professionalism of all involved”
Shaun Law, Carter Synergy
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