INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
FEATURE
are able to do CO 2
installations.
Although this refrigerant has been
around for some time in Europe,
there is a serious push for it in South
Africa, and the rest of the world is
quickly getting on par. On the R290
side (Propane), as a good natural
gas, it is also a flammable gas, so a
lot of companies are hesitant and
don’t particularly want to work with it.
Our company has fortunately been
working with R290 for more than
a year, so we have been able to
implement the use of this refrigerant
in our products, and have also seen
what trends and challenges have
emerged with it.”
DOORS AND TOPS ARE
CURRENTLY KING
For both cabinets and islands a major
new element in efficiency, and where
a lot of work is being implemented,
is of course the addition of doors or
tops – a new trend in many food
retail stores over recent months.
“The irony, for me personally, with
cabinet doors is that in past years
the markets drove industry designs
specifically in upright cabinets to
negate the need for doors, and now
trends are moving back to doors
being a major part of the solution.
Naturally, this option has its positives
and negatives. Doors and tops
tend to be a bit restrictive to the
customer and also relies on customer
behaviour – such as if customers
close the doors properly after
retrieving their goods – to maintain
efficiency. Time will tell if companies
continue to find value in this solution,
of if they will seek other alternatives
if maintenance or replacements
become an issue, but currently the
positives far outweigh the negatives,”
adds Kotsiros.
Closure of cabinets and islands can
be achieved through multiple ways
from PVC sheeting or strip curtains,
to various types of plastic such as
polypropylene or acrylic, and glass
– all depending on the application
and temperature span required.
Some materials are lightweight,
while others have been developed
to reflect harmful rays, and still
others are able to be installed
without any frames and are crack
and shatter resistant.
The addition of doors or tops to
cabinets and islands has revealed
up to a 40% saving in energy
consumption to-date. If you talk to
a bigger retailer you will find that up
to 50% of their costs are allocated to
electricity consumption, and further,
a major part of that figure is allocated
to refrigeration.
“Generally, retailers rely on very
small margins to remain competitive,
so if their refrigeration setup and
maintenance is not up to scratch, it’s
basically eating away at their profits.
Saving even 1% on their refrigeration
costs is a significant solution in their
world,” notes Hills.
Customers are typically offered
the option of including doors or
not, and further considerations
are the cost savings in electricity
consumption versus the cost of the
doors themselves, the installation
costs and future maintenance costs.
“All in all, these decisions around
payback or ROI are always a tough
subject to get into, but at the end of
the day each client’s needs must be
evaluated independently to ensure
the most cost-effective solution is
on the table. It’s the same situation
when you consider solar electricity
and the upfront capital outlay and
maintenance, and then considering
what your saving is against what you
would have paid with a conventional
electricity connection,” adds Kotsiros.
OTHER EFFICIENCY FACTORS IN
CABINETS AND ISLANDS
“From an energy savings and
efficiency perspective this [energy
efficiency ] goes far further than just
cabinets and islands themselves.
A lot has happened in the last few
years, the systems have improved,
compressor technology has
improved, there are new control
methodologies, and also newgeneration
intelligent systems. All of
these aspects have a big impact
when considered together in the
overall technology improvement,”
says Rainer Faustmann, managing
director of Colcab.
When looking at cabinets and
islands, the biggest user in kilowatts
(kW) in a supermarket arrangement
would probably be the upright
cabinet, simply because of the way
they are constructed, and of course
the number of upright cabinets
installed in a store. As you can
imagine, many factors also depend
on the mix of cabinets in the store
and then various other elements such
as the store conditions and the type
of refrigeration system running.
Overall efficiency also depends
on the direct energy components
that are on the inside on the units.
So, when you want to consider other
elements in a fridge that can improve
efficiency you need to consider the
type of fan motor used, lighting and
defrost methodologies.
Hills adds, “In refrigeration the
‘bigger the better’ motto often holds
true. The bigger your evaporators,
the more effective they will be and
often as a result, the more efficient
Colcab
Upright new-generation cabinets with acrylic doors.
COLD LINK AFRICA • September 2020 www.coldlinkafrica.co.za 25