Ammonia a refrigerant of choice around the world

All over the world ammonia is used in a range of industrial refrigeration applications from food processing and storage to ice rinks and pharmaceutical processing plants. In this article, ammonia21.com looks at several ammonia investments across the world, namely in Malaysia, Russia and the UK implemented as part of end-users drive for sustainability and energy efficiency.

Malaysia

The production firm of The Coca-Cola Company, BIG (Bottling Investment Group), has opened a facility in Malaysia that features a range of eco-friendly measures, such as an ammonia refrigeration system, that will serve as a showcase for bottlers in the entire region. The new facility was built on a 120,000-square-metre site in Enstek, a newly created cyber-city, about 40 kilometres to the south of the metropolis Kuala Lumpur. For cooling purposes, cascade-type compressors are used with eco-friendly ammonia as the refrigerant.

Other “green” measures include filling the products at ambient temperature, for example, instead of cold-filling them to save on cooling water, rainwater collection and lower weight preforms that reduce energy consulption during the porudtcion process.

Russia

In Russia Nestlé invested in a NH₃/ CO₂ cascade refrigeration system at its coffee processing plant in Timashvesk, in the south of the country. The 4 MW Mayekawa installation is one of the largest of its kind in Europe and offers the following benefits:

Reduction in the ammonia charge, increasing system safety and facilitating system supervision;
Reduction in the diameter of the refrigerant lines;
Use of screw compressors in the CO₂ stage that reduces the number of compressors required by half and triples the time needed between maintenance operations.

The UK

Oxford’s popular ice rink was refurbished with a custom-built natural refrigerant cooling system. J & E Hall installed a bespoke 360kW ammonia chiller featuring two HallScrew compressors for built in redundancy and designed in accordance with BS EN 378:2008. The superior thermodynamic properties of ammonia mean the system requires less electricity to run. Incorporated in the plant design are variable frequency drives that enhance the performance of the chiller at part load, which can reduce running cost by up to 20 per cent.