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Title: A comparative study on the environmental impact of supermarket refrigeration systems using low GWP refrigerants

Journal Article · · International Journal of Refrigeration
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Energy and Transportation Science Division
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Supermarket refrigeration systems have high environmental impact due to their large refrigerant charge and high leak rates. Consequently, the interest in using low GWP refrigerants such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and new refrigerant blends is increasing. In this study, an open-source Life Cycle Climate Performance (LCCP) framework is presented and used to compare the environmental impact of four supermarket refrigeration systems: a transcritical CO2 booster system, a cascade CO2/N-40 system, a combined secondary circuit with central DX N-40/L-40 system, and a baseline multiplex direct expansion system utilizing R-404A and N-40. The study is performed for different climates within the USA using EnergyPlus to simulate the systems' hourly performance. Finally, further analyses are presented such as parametric, sensitivity, and uncertainty analyses to study the impact of different system parameters on the LCCP.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Building Technologies Research and Integration Center (BTRIC)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office; Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Integrated Systems Optimization Consortium (ISOC)
Contributing Organization:
Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1265576
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1245242
Journal Information:
International Journal of Refrigeration, Vol. 56; ISSN 0140-7007
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 51 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (1)

GREEN-MAC-LCCP: A Tool for Assessing the Life Cycle Climate Performance of MAC Systems journal October 2010

Cited By (8)

Review of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) based heating and cooling technologies: Past, present, and future outlook journal December 2019
Exergy characteristics of R404A indirect refrigeration system using CO2 as a secondary refrigerant journal October 2018
Future prospects for elastocaloric devices journal January 2019
A Theoretical Comparative Study of CO2 Cascade Refrigeration Systems journal February 2019
Environmental impact assessments of heat pump–gas fired water heater hybrid system for space heating application journal October 2018
Limitations, challenges, and solution approaches in grid‐connected renewable energy systems journal May 2020
Theoretical Study of an Intermittent Water-Ammonia Absorption Solar System for Small Power Ice Production journal June 2019
Modeling and simulation of a desiccant assisted solar and geothermal air conditioning system journal December 2017

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
LCCP
GWP
Alternative refrigerant
Supermarket refrigeration
Environmental impact