COMPRESSORS
Ammonia powers ahead as industry seeks future-proof solutions
It is arguably one of the greenest refrigerants available. Bitzer UK’s James Graham sets out the case for ammonia, and reports on a pioneering project in Germany which delivers for the end-user and the environment.
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mmonia has been used in industrial refrigeration for more than a century. While there have been many changes in refrigerants used in smaller commercial systems over this time, mainly due to growing understanding of their impact on the environment, ammonia has remained the industry’s mainstay for large-scale industrial applications. It is arguably one of the greenest refrigerants available. Due to its thermodynamic properties, it is highly energy efficient, requiring the lowest energy input of any refrigerant to produce a given refrigerating effect.
In economic terms, not only are ammonia systems efficient and cost less to run, but the refrigerant itself is relatively inexpensive, even in the high-purity grade required for use in refrigeration. Given the large charges required by some industrial systems, this can translate into substantial savings over synthetic refrigerants.
In environmental terms, ammonia has impeccable green credentials. Both the Ozone Depletion Potential and Global Warming Potential of ammonia is zero. This, combined with its inherent efficiency, means it has the lowest Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) of any refrigerant (where TEWI is the sum of the direct and indirect effects of an
22 November 2021 •
www.acr-news.com
ammonia system on global warming over its lifetime). Ammonia's well-known downsides – flammability at specific concentrations under certain conditions, and toxicity – are being tamed in the modern era with the use of robust leak-tight systems engineered for exceptional reliability. A recent project for a meat specialist in Germany highlights the outstanding environmental performance and benefits of ammonia.
Sutter GmbH is a family-run business in Rhine-Hesse, which specialises in cured foods and sausages. Refrigeration at the company’s new production facility is based on a high performance ammonia system, supported by low temperature CO2
plant. The design philosophy was to future-proof the system from changes in legislation, while minimising running costs and maintaining outstanding quality. The plant processes around 180 tonnes of meat a day, requiring a total of 4.3MW of refrigerating capacity – 3MW at full capacity in mid-summer, with 1.3 MW available for redundancy. The system, designed by Kälte-Klima-Peters in collaboration with Robert Schiessl GmbH, is based on four ammonia liquid chillers to cover the medium temperature, production and storage requirements.
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