High Efficiency, Lower Resources, Natural Refrigerants

PermaCold has adopted a formal company commitment to environmentally progressive engineered solutions, and has adopted the slogan "Our Planet, Our Responsibility" to convey that focus. We are pursuing new technical approaches, components, and strategic vendor partnerships to develop ‘green’ refrigeration solutions.

Placing the environmental impact of industrial refrigeration systems as a central concern in the engineering design is not common practice, and PermaCold intends to lead the industry as an innovator and advocate for progressive designs and environmental responsibility in the refrigeration field.

This approach actually pays off to our customer's bottom line with tremendous long-term savings on power costs, materials, water, and maintenance. Processing Magazine recently showcased our authored article on the subject in a recent issue (click link to view).

In addition to optimizing engineering refrigeration systems for maximum efficiency, the company is pursuing a range of initiatives involving more environmentally sound refrigeration systems, including:

Developing systems requiring lower amounts of traditional refrigerants to operate and pursuing the use of non-toxic refrigerant solutions such as CO2.
Optimizing industrial refrigeration capacity to reduce the size, energy needs, and materials required (including water, insulation and sewage waste).
Engineering refrigeration in conjunction with modern LED lighting systems, vastly reducing "load shedding" of heat that directly impacts refrigeration system efficiency.

CO2 – A Natural Refrigerant Alternative

CO2 refrigeration is a safe alternative refrigerant that does not contribute to ozone depletion, yet still offers excellent thermodynamic properties for effective refrigeration and heat reclamation. As an example of additional use of heat reclaim, CO2 systems of about 110TR used in typical brewing or wine making applications may provide up to 2.1M BTU – ideal for use in wash down purposes.

As one of the leading refrigeration design/ build service providers, PermaCold Engineering believes that planning a new facility or retrofit should include a review of a CO2 solution.

Facts about CO2 Refrigeration:

CO2 is a natural refrigerant first used in the 1860's through the 1930's. However, scientists began to understand the relationship between synthetic refrigerants and the depletion of the earth's ozone layer, as well as their contribution to global warming.

CO2 has a '0' Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) unlike synthetic refrigerants, which can be up to several thousand times more harmful. Furthermore, CO2 has a Global Warming Potential Rating (GWP) of '1'.

Using CO2 may also protect the owner from refrigerant management issues when additional government/authority/ insurance restrictions and subsequent cost increases are placed on HFCs.

CO2 refrigeration systems have generally higher working pressures than traditional synthetic, but this is safely engineered at reasonable costs.

Carbon dioxide is an inexpensive and widely available refrigerant. For example, a frequently used synthetic refrigerant, R404a, costs approximately 400% more.

Carbon dioxide refrigeration provides owners with a solution that is:

Flexible
Reliable
Cost Effective
Safe
Environmental Responsible