A representative of FFM Engineering, Mark Leong, announced the first CO2 transcritical installation in the cold storage sector in Malaysia at ATMOsphere APAC 2022. “Even if at its infancy, the market of natural refrigerant-based cooling and refrigeration systems has potential to grow” reported Leong. Southeast Asia is characterised by a hot and humid climate, and so far it has welcomed only a handful of CO2 transcritical systems (less than 50, according to industry data from 2021). However, this is exactly why the market has potential, and these systems will gain market share rapidly in the developing Southeast Asia, according to Leong.

Leong presented the Super Green system, which was tested during summertime in Japan, where it showcased higher energy saving and higher stability. The system is a CO2 unit (SG-F2MY) manufactured by Nihon Netsugen Systems. The chosen system has a cooling capacity of 80 kW (Tamb = 35 ºC and Tevp = -32 ºC). Installed at the facility of DONG SING FOOD LINK SDN BHD in Malaysia, 27 km outside Kuala Lumpur, the system is designed to refrigerate the frozen dim sum and supply them to nearby Chinese cuisine restaurants/clients. The total storage volume of the cold room is 5,371 m3.

The system proved stable during its first year of operation, where outside temperatures varied between 25 ºC to 35 ºC and inside the systems managed to keep the temperature at -20.2 ºC, earning the systems operator annual energy savings up to 14% in comparison to a simulated similar plant running with HCFC-22 (236 MW and 277 MW, respectively).

Energy Efficiency