The Life C4R – Carbon for Retail Refrigeration – initiative is taking shape with the inauguration of the first pilot system, in Conad Centro Nord of Carpenedolo.
At the heart of the project is the FTE Full Transcritical Efficiency system patented by Epta, which allows the traditional limits of transcritical technology to be exceeded. The Plan was devised to raise awareness among the scientific community, the suppliers of components and all the players of the Retail world on the use of increasingly sustainable solutions and to show that it is possible to completely replace HCFC and HFC refrigerants with transcritical CO2 at any latitude and temperature. This guarantees a 10% energy saving in the refrigeration system (compared with standard solutions), a significant reduction in the carbon footprint on all the value chain and up to 20% lower installation and maintenance costs.
Thanks to the efficiency of the three Italian pilot projects and of the four replica prototypes in Romania and Spain, installed together with the partners Epta Iberia and DAAS, the Plan will ensure an overall saving of 54.514 kWh/year, namely 59.057 washing machine cycles, 8,000 TCO2eq and 2 tons of HCFC and a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) throughout the European Union equal to at least 1.5% between 2018 and 2021.
The systems with heat recovery and the latest generation Costan cabinets will contribute to even higher energy performance. The food area of Conad Centro Nord of Carpenedolo boasts vertical closed cabinets GranVista Next and GranBering for packed products and serve-over cabinets Velvet with Design aesthetic for the Deli & Butcher department, which add a touch of style to an eco-friendly store.
ETE Extreme Temperature Efficiency is a new technology by Epta which can be combined with FTE to guarantee operation of the transcritical CO2 system at any latitude, also on non booster installations, and in industrial refrigeration applications. The technology works without the support of synthetic, flammable refrigerants, or the use of water: the system uses the same CO2 of the transcritical system as its work fluid. The “secret” of the ETE lies in the reduction of refrigerant temperatures before it is distributed to the final utilities. The gas, going out from the air exchanger, at a value close to ambient temperature, is cooled further. The system allows the almost total disappearance of “flash-gas” (refrigerant to recompress), for significant energy saving and guarantee of the reliability of the correct operation of the system, also above 40°C. ETE uses standard components, easily available and known to the operators, to ensure not only easy installation, but also greater efficiency in the start-up and maintenance phases.
