Transcritical CO2 moves south

USA: Transcritical CO2 refrigeration has moved to the warm suburbs of Atlanta in a new installation at Sprouts Farmers Market in Dunwoody. 

While the transition to CO2 refrigeration is beginning to happen in colder climates, retailers and engineers in North America have widely questioned whether a CO2 transcritical system could be operated efficiently in areas where the ambient temperature climbs above 85 ºF.

There are now around 2,000 transcritical CO2 systems operating worldwide in cold weather cities but they are normally limited to colder climates due to the limitations of air-cooled gas coolers.

Sprouts Farmers Market new store, opening next month in Dunwoody, Georgia, will run on a Hillphoenix  Advansor transcritical booster system using a TrilliumSeries hybrid evaporative condenser designed for Hillphoenix by Baltimore Air Coil.

Until now, the southernmost Hillphoenix Advansor transcritical CO2 booster system in North America was located in Chicago.

“We worked with Baltimore Air Coil to develop a new product that’s a hybrid evaporative condenser adapted for use with CO2,” said Scott Martin, director, sustainable technologies at Hillphoenix.

“Evaporative condensers offer energy savings by providing lower system condensing temperatures than conventional air-cooled or water-cooled condensing systems.”

Baltimore Aircoil’s TrilliumSeries condenser is said to use a dry-coil adiabatic design that provides up to 18% peak energy reduction uses water only on the hottest days to maintain condensing temperatures.

With its new Dunwoody store, Sprouts aims to change the industry’s preconceived notions about warm climate operation of transcritical CO2 systems, demonstrating that it is a viable option for retailers seeking a more sustainable, energy efficient refrigeration option.

“Central to Sprouts’ identity is a genuine commitment to responsible retailing,” said Ted Frumkin, senior vice president of business development, Sprouts Farmers Market. “This innovative partnership with Hillphoenix helps Sprouts reduce waste and our environmental impact, which we know is important to our customers and our team members.”

Sprouts Farmers Market was recently named one of the top five supermarket chains. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Sprouts operates more than 175 stores in ten states.