The following remarks were made regarding the article “The Changing World of Supermarket Refrigeration” written by Joanna R. Turpin, senior editor for The NEWS, published Aug. 13.
There’s More to the Story
This opinion piece does not indicate a firm grasp of why supermarkets use centralized refrigeration systems and why self-contained units are not widely used in supermarket settings. Self-contained refrigeration systems release their heat into the conditioned space of the store, so the HVAC system in the store would need to be oversized enough to not only handle the normal building and traffic heat load, but it would also need to handle the heat rejected by a hundred or so self-contained cases. The theory that they would require less service is also false, as each unit would require condenser cleaning, 200 to 400 fan motors to monitor, as well as a myriad of door switches, thermostats, and lights.
I don’t know how often Joanna gets out into the world of supermarket refrigeration, but there are a lot of options to eliminating the miles of piping of which she is fearful. Hussman makes water cooled satellite units that can operate a dozen or more cases from a nearby storage room or loft, which eliminates a lot of refrigerant piping. There are also supermarkets using chilled liquids or CO2 that do not require a lot of refrigerant piping if that is your desire. In my experience in supermarket service, you rarely have leaks in the piping if it is installed properly, but more often, leaks will occur in control lines, valves and fittings, or evaporator coils that have been exposed to corrosive gasses. You might be surprised at how many common foods release gases that attack copper, aluminum, and silver solder.
Too many people focus upon a single item and entirely miss the larger picture of the balance between operating costs, reliability, consistent product temperature, presentation, and service costs.
Greg R. Snyder
President, Edwards Refrigeration
Loveland, Colorado
The following remarks were made regarding the article “Let’s Worry More About Refrigerant Leaks, Less About Metrics” written by Joanna R. Turpin, senior editor for The NEWS, published Sept. 3.
Nobody Really Knows
Very nice info and comments about ODP, GWP, etc. I was around before Rowland and Molina made their discovery, and I believe that no one actually knows what is really happening.
Tom Schaefer
Service Manager, Upstate Systems
Buffalo, New York
The NEWS wants to hear your thoughts. If you have any comments concerning our articles or other topics related to the HVAC industry, submit them at www.achrnews.com/NEWS-letters for possible inclusion in the Letters: Feedback From Our Readers section of the magazine.
Publication date: 9/17/2018
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