Greencold director Simon Andrew comments: “We had always wanted a large cold-room test facility in our premises to enable us to carry out product testing for our customers for both chill and freeze temperatures. However, due to limited space inside our workshop, we decided that it would be a better idea to construct a mobile CO2 cooling system in a refrigerated box trailer. This could then be parked both on our premises and also taken to our customers site to test their products locally or demonstrate the technology. Panasonic worked with us to develop a perfect solution”.
The condensing units of the standard air conditioning units use a natural refrigerant that has a GWP (Global Warming Potential) equal to one, as opposed to the current refrigerant typically used such as R404A having a GWP equal to 3,800. With refrigeration legislation increasing over the coming years, HFC R404A will be out of circulation by 2020.
Greencold have also identified a further revenue stream and use for the Panasonic CO2 trailer and set up a sister company called ‘QuickFreeze’, whereby they are successfully renting out the branded trailer to a variety of customers in the food manufacturing business for events and storage logistic sectors such as smaller catering, hotels and restaurants, corporate hospitality events, weddings, pop-up stalls and emergency back-up for food and medical pharmaceutical companies with refrigeration needs.
One recent use case was where QuickFreeze were contacted by a youth football club for a large team tournament event where the refrigerated trailer was required for a three-day event. The Trailer was parked in a convenient onsite location and placed next to a portacabin where food was being prepared.
Chris Terry, Team Chairman of FC Aztec Youth commented, “We commissioned Quickfreeze to set up the trailer for chilled conditions which enabled us to serve the food and replenish the stocks quickly, allowing us to store all our products in the vast amount of space and all kitted out with convenient shelving. The event ran trouble free for the whole of the tournament from Friday to Saturday evening and made our life a lot easier. The CO2 branding on the trailer also caused a few heads to turn and brought attention to the visiting public and showed the importance of green refrigerant technology”.
The Quickfreeze trailer is helping to avoid the logistical challenges faced when delivering refrigerated solutions in an articulated HGV lorry, which is not always convenient for many smaller drop-off locations.
Based on Panasonic monitored data, 16% energy savings for chilled refrigeration and 25% energy savings for lower temperature freezer applications have been achieved in comparison to R404A, monitored within a 5°C to 27°C ambient 12-month operating period.