CO2
PROBES FACILITATE ROLLOUT OF ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY REFRIGERATION
Supermarkets all over Australia and New Zealand are benefi ting from advanced carbon dioxide monitors as new natural refrigeration systems are installed in the fi ght against climate change.
Introduction
The Woolworths Group employs over 205,000 staff and serves 900 million customers each year. As a large and diverse organisation, Woolworths knows that its approach to sustainability has an impact on national economies, communities and environments, and this is refl ected in the Group’s Corporate Responsibility Strategy 2020.
The strategy is built around twenty key targets which cover Woolworths’ engagement with customers, communities, supply chain and team members, as well as its responsibility to minimise the environmental impact of its operations. One of the twenty commitments within the strategy is to innovate with natural refrigerants and reduce refrigerant leakage in its stores by 15 per cent (of carbon dioxide equivalent) below 2015 levels.
Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) is commonly regarded as the ideal natural
refrigerant. It is a non-toxic, non-fl ammable, odourless, colourless gas, however, high concentrations can cause unconsciousness and even death, so accurate, reliable monitoring is necessary for safety reasons and for the rapid detection of potential leaks. Woolworths, and its cold chain partner Emerson, therefore needed an accurate, reliable CO2
role as the Group expands the use of natural refrigerants in its stores.
Over the last 8 years, Vaisala carbon dioxide probes have been employed widely across Woolworths Group stores, delivering a range of benefi ts and helping the group to achieve its strategic goals.
Global move to natural refrigerants
Synthetic refrigerant gases have been utilised in a wide variety of industries for many decades. However, Chlorofl uorocarbons (CFCs) caused damage to the ozone layer and were phased out following the Montreal Protocol in 1987. Production of Hydrochlorofl uorocarbons (HCFCs) then increased globally, because they are less harmful to stratospheric ozone. However, HCFCs are very powerful greenhouse gases so Hydrofl uorocarbons (HFCs) became more popular. Nevertheless, most HCFCs and HFCs have a global warming potential (GWP) that is thousands of times higher than that of carbon dioxide, so many countries have been lowering the use of HFCs, and the Kigali Amendment (2018) to the Montreal Protocol, will bring about a global phasedown of HFCs. Consequently, there is a strong push for the adoption of natural refrigerants such as carbon dioxide.
monitor that could fulfi l this vital
In Australia and New Zealand, Woolworths Group is leading the way in the move to refrigerants that have a dramatically lower GWP. Luke Breeuwer, Senior Commissioner at Woolworths, says: “I believe that ultimately all supermarket refrigeration, in store and back of house, will move to transcritical CO2
method emerges. “CO2
refrigeration technology has improved markedly in recent years, which is enabling us to roll it out in most regions, except for parts of Queensland where humidity levels currently dictate the deployment of hybrid CO2
systems.” The move to transcritical CO2 refrigeration systems involves
a signifi cant capital outlay, which may limit the speed of implementation at other supermarkets. At Woolworths Luke says: “There is pressure from our fi nance department to push ahead with the new systems; not just to deliver environmental benefi ts, but also to ensure that at some point in the future, we are not left with refrigeration assets that cannot be maintained. The capital costs of the initiative are being offset by also utilising this technology for in-store heating.”
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, unless a better Monitoring Carbon Dioxide
To protect the health and safety of customers, staff and contractors, around six CO2
sensors would be necessary in
a traditional store. However, those with transcritical CO2 refrigeration would typically require twenty four sensors or more.
Many of the Woolworths stores’ refrigeration and HVAC control systems are supplied by Emerson. Looking back, Shannon Lovett, Senior Business Manager Cold Chain ANZ for Emerson, says: “Around 8 years ago we evaluated a locally sourced CO2
sensor,
but it suffered from quality issues and failures, so we equipped one store with the Vaisala sensors as a ‘proof of concept’.
“Happily, the Vaisala probes performed extremely well, and have been rolled out in the Woolworths Group stores in Australia
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