By refrigerant

An R290 icemaker was honoured at the Great Hospitality Show – an international HORECA tradeshow taking place in Birmingham, UK on 23-25 January – for its energy efficiency.

The first CO₂ transcritical refrigeration system in Chile has been installed at a Jumbo supermarket in Valdivia.

Eurammon offers €5000 “naturals” award

Danfoss is using the upcoming Euroshop exhibition to promote its Smart Store next generation food retail solutions.

In the latest example of the US EPA’s crackdown on facilities that use hazardous chemicals, a food processor in Hancock, Maine, has agreed to pay $108,723 for ammonia safety violations.

On March 2016,the European Committee for Standardization (ECS) ratified an update of the EN 378 European Standard “Refrigerating systems and heat pumps. Safety and environmental requirements”. This standard provides guidance for companies who work with refrigerating systems, from their conception to their productive utilization, such as vapour compression systems, air-conditioning, heat pumps, and other similar systems. This standard is to be implemented at national level on May 31, 2017 by publication of an identical national standard or by endorsement.

Manufacturers look forward to investing in a climate-friendly future as hydrocarbons become increasingly prevalent in commercial applications.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has confirmed two rules that will see bans on a number of HFC refrigerants and a tightening of leak rate rules to reduce HFC emissions.

A paper published in the January 2017 edition of Applied Thermal Engineering compares CO₂ transcritical systems to HFC systems in Sweden.

DC inverters to modulate compressor speed are among the refrigeration system innovations that Italian multinational CAREL hopes will boost natural refrigerant uptake in food retail.

Two industrial refrigeration bodies in the United States – the GCCA and the IIAR – will run a course with American University group the IRC to help OSHA inspectors, who carry out ammonia safety inspections in the United States, get to grips with large ammonia refrigeration systems (usually over 10,000 lbs).

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Russian Federation have opened a training centre in mountainous Armenia.

The Federal Government of Australia recently announced that it was to implement a phase-down of HFCs. The phase-down will start in January 2018 and will reduce HFC emissions by 85% in 2036.

Italian manufacturer Epta sees customer demand for increased energy efficiency as a positive sign for natural refrigerants.

The US HVACR industry has called on the incoming Trump administration to ratify the Kigali amendment to the Montreal Protocol in order to protect US manufacturing and employment.

Italy’s Blupura was established in 2008, becoming a first-mover among water cooler manufacturers investing in hydrocarbon technology.

Hydrocarbons are ready to move into a host of applications, asserts a new paper from European natural refrigerant advocates Eurammon.

A company producing dried pasta has agreed to pay a $78,184 penalty for violations of laws related to its use of ammonia in its refrigeration system.

Commercial refrigeration is just one of many applications that are increasingly relying on CO₂ systems to meet their HFC phase-down commitments in 2017.

The must-attend conference of the year will take place on 20 February in Tokyo, right after the Supermarket Trade Show.