Ammonia is both a friend to refrigeration contractors and a danger, too. When used properly in refrigeration units, its outstanding heat transfer capabilities can keep food cold for long periods of time, it does not harm the environment, and it is biodegradable. But exposure to ammonia does pose a danger to human health.
A well-designed medium temperature refrigeration system will maintain both a proper case temperature and relative humidity (rh). The preservation of food depends not only on the temperature, but also on the relative humidity within a case.
The International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration will hold its 2012 Industrial Refrigeration Conference & Exhibition, March 17-21 at the Frontier Airlines Center in Milwaukee.
It did not take long for the HVACR industry to respond to reports from overseas about rogue refrigerants used in hundreds of transport HFC-134a refrigeration systems, which allegedly were responsible for a number of explosions and at least three deaths.
Members of the Hatfield Township community place a high value on locally sourced and organic foods and environmental stewardship. As such, planning for the town’s new ShopRite supermarket included making sustainability a priority from product offerings to construction of the store itself — including the choice of refrigeration systems and display cases.
Uses of so-called natural refrigerants such as HCs, CO2, and ammonia are being advocated as ways to positively deal with issues of climate change, greenhouse effect, and global warming. That was the primary perspective of an extended report from Eurammon, a joint European initiative of companies, institutions, and individuals who advocate an increased use of natural refrigerants.
Safety is paramount when working with ammonia refrigerants. Why? If something does go wrong in such a situation, it can have grave consequences. Ammonia is a health risk because of its corrosiveness to skin, eyes, and lungs. In fact, exposure to 300 ppm creates an imminent danger to life and health.
GEA Refrigeration Technologies announced that it has acquired the assets, operations, production facilities, and patents of the companies QPM LLC and QPM Manufacturing LLC, of Bellevue, Wash. QPM is a supplier of special steel conveyor belts that transport food products in ovens and freezers.
Efforts to make CO2 work in transcritical applications got a boost with the announcement the CSC, The Canadian manufacturer of refrigeration systems, will be making a major push in that regard.
In late 2010, Sprouts Farmers Market set out to meet the EPA’s most stringent GreenChill standards with construction of its Thousand Oaks, Calif., store. Sprouts tapped Hill Phoenix to design a refrigeration system that not only would be environmentally friendly, but also energy efficient and cost effective to install and maintain.
