Zero Zone, an OEM located in Ramsey, Minn., is installing its first ice rink-based CO2 transcritical system.
The 170-TR chiller system, using glycol as a secondary fluid, will be deployed in a Minnesota facility over the next few months, said John Collins, industrial sales manager, Zero Zone, at the Global Cold Chain Expo in Chicago last month.
The transcritical system will serve an existing ice rink, replacing an R22 system, as well as a new rink at the facility opening this fall, he said.
Increasingly popular in Canada, CO2 ice rink systems are starting to gain traction in the U.S. For example, Hillphoenix has installed transcritical CO2 systems in four rinks run by the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska. “There’s a lot of excitement around transcritical CO2 in the last few years,” said Collins, responsible for Zero Zone’s industrial sales. “The available of components are making costs more attractive. We see a lot of opportunity.”
Zero Zone’s parallel rack transcritical systems can be deployed in an indoor machine room or as an outdoor application.
Zero Zone’s experience with CO2 systems in the commercial sector informs its industrial CO2 systems, said Collins. “We’ve adopted a lot of learning from retail into the industrial side.” For example, he noted, the extensive use of controls in commercial systems – needed in the absence of on-site technicians – is becoming more of a reality in industrial plants.
“The available of components are making costs more attractive. We see a lot of opportunity.”
John Collins
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