Food Manufacturers Seek Environmentally Friendly Refrigerants That Won't Hinder Efficiency

By Isaac Fletcher, contributing writer, Food Online

Growing concerns about climate change and sustainability have resulted in a price increase in widely used refrigerant, R-22.  Food manufacturers look for an alternative solution to cut costs and boost efficiency

Chlorodifluoromethane, better known as R-22, is a popular refrigerant which is now being phased out in developed countries due to the discovery of its ozone depletion potential (ODP) and global warming potential (GWP).  As supplies have diminished, prices have spiked, pushing food manufacturers to look at other refrigeration solutions.  Don Stroud, a senior refrigeration engineer with Stellar — an organization that, among other related areas, engineers and fabricates refrigeration solutions — estimates that it now costs $450,000 to recharge a 30,000 pounds mid-sized industrial refrigerator with R-22.

Hope is not lost, however. Recharging a refrigerator of a similar size with an ammonia system would only cost Stroud calculates.  Not only is ammonia cheaper, it is also one of the most environmentally friendly refrigerants, with an ODP and GWP both equal to zero.  Ammonia is also very energy efficient with a wide range of temperature applications, allowing for both versatility and sustainability.  Further developments in using ammonia and CO2 in combination have allowed for further efficiency still.  These ammonia/CO2 cascade systems allow for very low temperature operation, providing an efficient, environmentally friendly solution for freezing needs.

Many companies have already switched from R-22 to ammonia, but safety concerns with the toxicity and potential flammability of ammonia have held others back from making the transition.  Safety is certainly a concern, and ammonia systems are designed with that in mind to ensure that their use is as safe as possible.  Additionally, ammonia has a unique and easily detectable odor, even in small quantities, meaning that any leak would be able to be quickly identified and resolved before any disaster could occur. 

Ammonia, along with CO2, may become the likely candidate to replace R-22 in mechanical systems.  For cryogenic freezing, though, liquid CO2 and liquid nitrogen are the go-to options for refrigerants.  Some systems, such as the bottom-injection system from Linde North America, allow the user to choose whether to use liquid CO2 or liquid nitrogen allowing for flexibility between which resource to use and when.  This flexibility allows the user to better accommodate the costs of the respective gases depending upon their location, providing a welcome boost in cost efficiency.

Further efficiency can be gained through the integration of refrigeration and processing.  By integrating refrigeration during the fabrication of processing machines, food manufacturers can boost efficiency by having a system that processes and refrigerates or freezes their product in a streamlined process.

As the economic landscape of refrigeration continues to change and evolve, food manufactures must adapt to find proper solutions to their refrigeration needs.  Cost and efficiency will still play the determining role; with some processes costing more but yielding better efficiency overall, manufacturers must recognize the choices available and implement the one that best fits their needs and profitability.

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