COLD STORES


Castle Commercial Refrigeration reduces carbon footprint


One of the largest fruit growers in South East England was looking to adopt a low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerant to replace R-134a in its cold stores, with the aim of reducing its carbon footprint in the supply of high-quality produce to supermarkets.


The transition to the new system


demonstrates good energy effi ciency and lower emissions, resulting in a lower GWP. This has


contributed to overall operational cost


reductions, as well as easing demands on the carbon footprint.


I


n the competitive fruit agriculture market, effi cient storage and distribution systems play a crucial role in maintaining high-quality products. Legislation is constantly encouraging the industry to adopt new cold store equipment that uses a lower GWP refrigerant. The fruit grower completed the fi nal phase of a project that has run for several years, with the development of 12 additional controlled atmosphere cold stores. The facilities include three pack systems, each managing four of the cold storage units. There have been multiple phases of this build which started in 2018 and now totals 30 controlled atmosphere stores and chilled avenues. The cold stores had been initially installed with R-134a, which has a GWP of 1430.


Sustainable and eco-effi cient refrigerant solution The fruit grower called upon the expertise of Castle Commercial Refrigeration, specialists in the design, installation, servicing, and maintenance of commercial refrigeration systems. Throughout the project, the fruit grower maintained its focus on solutions that would lead to the use of a lower GWP refrigerant as well as achieving good energy effi ciency, in response to market demands for sustainable practices. The company had discussed options with Castle Commercial Refrigeration to determine if there was an alternative refrigerant to R-134a that was suitable for meeting the sustainability requirements of new equipment. Having conducted research into R-513A


refrigerant, Director Shaun Jupp and refrigeration engineer Tom Knight invited Climalife to explore the


refrigerant further, off ering a low-GWP, sustainable, and eco-effi cient solution to their client. When discussing the Climalife and Castle Commercial Refrigeration relationship, Jupp said: “We have worked together for many years and maintained a close relationship. The Climalife team provide us with valuable advice on legislative changes and products, including how to use them.” With Climalife’s support, Castle Commercial


Refrigeration was confi dent in recommending R-513A (Opteon XP10), and the end user agreed to start planning the installation work. Throughout the project, several key stakeholders contributed to the recommendations


16 July 2025 • www.acr-news.com


Cold storeroom for fresh fruit to be stored


for the equipment used. Having decided on the use of R-513A, Shaun was in contact with a leading refrigeration parts manufacturer who supplied the refrigeration packs, condensers and other necessary components. The refrigeration parts manufacturer played a crucial role in the decision-making process, providing recommendations on the optimal equipment setup compatible with R-513A. They recommended that the project use Bitzer components, which were well suited to the R-513A application.


Implementation phase One of the primary challenges in this project was meeting tight deadlines. When it comes to cold storage of fresh produce, the refrigerant installation is often the fi nal process to be executed. Fresh fruit is loaded into the cold storage facility, and then the refrigeration system is commissioned, creating a process that requires precise coordination and timing. Castle Commercial Refrigeration were engaged in commissioning the systems whilst the stores were partially loaded with fruit. This was an additional layer to the process where the team had to ensure access was available for testing without disrupting the fruit being loaded.


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