REFRIGERATION


Energy effi ciency you can feel


As the refrigeration industry and grocery retailers strive to meet targets for limiting carbon emissions and reducing running costs, there is an increasing focus on effi cient refrigerated display equipment. Lucabo International’s CEO, Lewis Bourne (LB), and Adande Aircell’s engineering and research director, Ian Wood (IW), share their views on the relative merits of energy saving technologies currently available and explain the benefi ts of Aircell technology.


Lewis Bourne Ian Wood


What is the main factor infl uencing the energy effi ciency of refrigerated display cabinets?


LB: The fundamental fl aw in the design of traditional open front refrigerated display cabinets is the base to canopy air curtain which is not suffi ciently robust to prevent chilled air from spilling from the cabinet. The spillage creates cold aisle syndrome which is the chilly and uncomfortable temperature experienced by shoppers in the refrigerated departments of stores. The spillage of chilled air causes the equipment’s refrigeration machinery to work harder to maintain holding temperature, thus increasing energy consumption and adding to electricity costs. Chilled air spillage also causes fl uctuations in the temperature within the display cabinet with detrimental implications for the quality and longevity of perishable merchandise.


IW: To assess the scale of cold aisle syndrome, our representatives visited the stores of six major UK retailers. At each store, temperature, relative humidity and dew point were recorded in a non- refrigerated area to establish ambient conditions. Readings were then taken in refrigerated sections of the stores, including dairy, convenience food, produce and pre-packed fresh meat aisles. Data was recorded at a consistent 600 mm distance from the refrigerated cabinets using a USB data logger. Cold aisle syndrome existed in the refrigerated departments at


24 October 2023 • www.acr-news.com


every store and on average, temperatures were 25% – and 30% colder than the store ambient temperatures. Temperatures were consistently coldest in pre-packed fresh meat aisles, with the most signifi cant temperature discrepancy measured at 11.5o


C, some 6.5o store’s ambient temperature.


Why has there not been a wider adoption of doors on cabinets to limit cold air spillage? LB: Retailers are aware that shoppers prefer free and open access to merchandise for shopping and browsing. In store research conducted by Shopping Behaviour Xplained Ltd (SBXL) concluded that cabinets with doors had a 13% reduction in grab and go purchases compared with open front displays. The report also noted that on average 31% of shoppers for chilled goods from open front displays paused to read pack labels in detail, but this fi gure dropped to 9% for cabinets with doors, suggesting that the latter are a barrier to browsing. We have anecdotal evidence that cabinets with doors are high maintenance in terms of cleaning, repair and the costly replacement damaged doors.


IW: Whilst cabinets with doors may work in stores with low volume sales, they are not the answer for high volume food retailing environments with frequent door openings. To put this to the test we conducted laboratory trials under


C lower than the


industry standard conditions. Over seven days temperatures within a cabinet with doors were measured, during 12-hour periods at 30 second intervals, for various opening frequencies with an opening/closing cycle of 15 seconds. Having established baseline data for door openings of 10 per hour, tests were conducted at 30 openings per hour. The average test pack temperature rose by 5°C for 30 openings per hour. The cabinet failed to recover to the operating temperature of -1 to +4°C, even after twelve hours with the doors closed. The higher temperature in the cabinet increased the duty on the refrigeration plant with a surge in energy consumption. This increased temperature could easily impact the freshness of perishable merchandise causing potential food waste for retailers.


What other energy saving technologies are available? LB: The industry has seen various initiatives over the years, including shelf edge technology which has been adopted by some retailers as a retrofi t solution. However, only modest percentage energy savings in the low teens have been achieved, which have been outweighed by hikes in electricity prices. Shelf edge technology does little to address the issues of temperature bandwidth which is a critical factor in maintaining perishable merchandise at optimum quality and freshness.


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