UPDATE: Atmosphere 2009 – CO₂ highlights II

The last part of the Atmosphere 2009 follow-up article series focuses on presentations about R744 Mobile Air Conditioning in today’s and tomorrow’s vehicles, CO₂ in supermarket refrigeration from an end-user’s perspective, and the importance of reliable and efficient compressors. Presentations now available.

The dedicated CO₂ workshop session on 19 October drew the highest interest from participants of Atmosphere 2009, an international conference organised over two days in Brussels, Belgium. Around 80 attendees listened to CO₂-related presentations during the Industry sessions that were talking about the current and future potential of CO₂ (R744) in heating, cooling & refrigeration. Participants were mostly interested in learning how to use the natural refrigerant in developed and developing countries today, and in concrete commitments from end-users of how to bring R744 faster to different world markets.

Discussions hence centred around the question of what would need to be done from a policy and a technology perspective to create a favourable business climate for R744. Questions of energy efficiency in different climatic conditions, safety issues and trade barriers were discussed, as well as the interest of European companies to “export” their technological knowledge and product solutions to developing countries.

The Presentations

CO₂ MAC for today’s vehicles and EVs: Frank Wolf from Obrist Engineering provided an extensive overview of the CO₂-based Mobile Air Conditioning development over the last decade. Having built more than 50 prototypes of different sizes, Wolf especially highlighted the potential of the non-flammable natural refrigerant with heat pump capability for electric vehicles, battery cooling and thermal management. After all issues of functionality, performance, controllability, drivability, and cost also for small cars have been solved, and CO₂ has been proven to work reliably in prototypes running longer than 10 years and in harsh climatic conditions, R744 could meet all cooling needs for today’s vehicles. Especially in electric vehicles, where additional needs for cooling and heating compared to conventional vehicles arise, the use of CO₂ would become key as any energy required for heating and cooling would need to be drawn from the battery, hence leading to higher battery costs and a shorter driving range.

CO₂ Compressors: Similarly, Giacomo Pisano from Dorin gave a comprehensive overview of the challenges faced by compressor manufacturers when designing CO₂ models. Besides the reasons for a renewed interest in R744 – among them the Montreal Protocol, the Kyoto Protocol, the EU MAC Directive, and EU legislation on ozone-depleting substances - Pisano stressed the importance of thorough testing, including continuous run and short cycling to ensure optimal performance while operating and a standstill even at high ambient temperatures with no need for external cooling. Today, Dorin has commissioned more than 6,000 CO₂ compressors for heat pumps, commercial refrigeration, and hot gas defrost applications.

CO₂ in Supermarkets – The end-user perspective: Based on the commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% based on 2006 levels, retailer Tesco’s initial analysis of its major emission sources indicated that 19% of the overall carbon footprint would come from the currently used HFC refrigerants alone. When taking into account the grid electricity needed for running commercial refrigeration systems in stores, the share increased to 43% from the total, hence rendering the focus on reducing direct and indirect emissions from refrigeration a key priority. Andy Campbell updated participants about all Tesco projects having involved CO₂ as a refrigerant since the year 2006. Initial projects indicated that cascade systems would not be robust enough for the need of Tesco, and the lack of skill and knowledge in the contract base was another drawback. The new R744 solution now favoured by Tesco is fit for retrofit and roll-out while reducing the TEWI by 75%, and costs by 22% compared to previous solutions. Tesco now plans to install six new CO₂ systems in the period 2009-2010, 20-30 systems in 2010/2011, and 150 by 2012. Campbell concluded that while CO₂ components for transcritical operation would offer efficient operation and heat recovery options, end-users, such as Tesco, would today be restricted mainly by the industry’s capacity to supply these systems.

Presentations available soon

CO₂-related presentations, as well as presentations from the policy and finance sessions will be made available to R744.com readers this week. Please check the website regularly for updates.