US, Japanese firms join forces on ammonia-CO₂ system

Mayekawa’s high-efficiency industrial refrigeration system, the NewTon, uses natural refrigerants ammonia and CO₂ to achieve higher levels of efficiency and energy savings than conventional technologies.

The Japanese company partnered with CIMCO and Southern California Edison (SCE) to install the NewTon at a food manufacturing facility catering for Japanese restaurants in Irvine, California.

The firms expect the system to provide 20-50% energy savings and “be less impactful to the environment”. 

Jose Mergulhao, vice-president of US Operations at CIMCO, said “reducing the carbon footprint and decreasing overall energy consumption is of significant value to commercial and industrial consumers and to the surrounding electric grid, especially during times of peak demand and warm, summer days”.

He oversaw the installation at the Imuraya USA plant, which manufactures desserts for Japanese restaurants.

Mayekawa will monitor the refrigeration system in real time to make sure there are no problems. SCE will then gather and analyse performance data from the NewTon and the existing refrigeration system, which will run alongside one another.

Existing Mayekawa performance data for the NewTon system shows that ice arenas achieved an average of 50% reduction in energy; cold storage facilities showed an average energy reduction of 27.8%; and freezers at processing plants showed an average reduction of 20% of electricity consumption

The team expects to complete its research on the novel refrigeration system by the end of 2016 and will issue its first update in early 2017.