Dalian to build China’s first CO₂/ NH₃ Cascade cold storage logistics base

On August 9 2012, Dalian Zhangzidao Fishery Group together with Tokyo-based Chuo Gyorui Co Ltd and Hohsui Corp from Japan started building the largest single cold storage facility for aquatic products in Northeast China, in Dalian. The project is also the first large-scale cold storage logistics base to use a CO₂/ NH₃ cascade refrigeration system. 

 

 

The total investment in the project is RMB 1 billion (~€128 million). Dalian will build four CO₂/ NH₃ cascade cold stores with a total capacity of 200,000 tons. The first phase of the porject involves an investment of RMB 180 million (~€ 23 million), to build the first cold store in the project, which will have a capacity of 500,000 tons. The first cold store is expected to be operational on 31 October 2012.

 

 

The new 44,300 m² cold store will be located on a 59,600 m² area in the bonded zone of the Port of Dalian. The 6-story facility consists of 12 freezing rooms with temperatures ranging from -25°C to -20°C. The first floor of the facility is a -60°C ultralow temperature cold room with a capacity of 500 tons. The cold store uses CO₂ as the coolant inside the cold store and NH₃ as the refrigerant to provide indirect cooling outside the cold store. The aim of the design is to ensure the quality of seafood stored. 

 

The system only needs 3 tons of ammonia as refrigerant compared to 30 tons for a conventional ammonia cold store. On average, the system can reduce energy consumption by 30% every year for each cold store. In summer, the amount of energy saving is estimated to 50%. 

 

 

Located near the Huanghai Sea and Bohai Sea, Dalian is a major fish producing area in Northeast China. However, at present, the total cold storage capacity of Dalian is around 300,000 tons, and the area cannot adequately cope with the 600,000 tons of imported marine products coming to the area. As China's marine products consumption increases, China needs to build more cold storage facilities and improve the storage quality and management standards of its cold stores so as to meet international standards.  

 

 

In China, the increasing market demand of seafood and other frozen food is creating a big market for NH₃/CO₂ cascade systems. Some domestic manufacturers have begun to produce NH₃/CO₂ cascade refrigeration systems and several supermarkets and food cold stores have already used the technology. Yantai Moon produced China’s first domestically made NH₃/CO₂ screw cascade refrigeration system in 2008. In 2012, another company called Yantai Ningxing showcased their NH₃/CO₂ cascade refrigeration system at the China Refrigeration Exhibition, in 2012. An NH₃/CO₂ cascade refrigeration system has been successfully installed at Yantai Fengrun, a local Chinese fruit pudding supplier to McDonald’s and Weihai Jiuye, a Chinese export-seafood supplier in the Shandong Province. As the technology can greatly reduce end user electricity use there are more and more Chinese companies showing interest in the ammonia/CO₂ cascade systems.