A newly built cold chain distribution center in the UK has been put into operation. Its refrigeration system uses carbon dioxide as the refrigerant, providing refrigerated and frozen storage capacity for four temperature zones. The project, with an investment of approximately £10 million, is used to replace the old facility damaged by a fire in January 2023.
Four Temperature Zones, Two Independent Systems
According to the project configuration, two mutually independent CO₂ refrigeration systems are installed on site, each serving four temperature-controlled refrigerated and frozen storage areas. The two systems cover each other crosswise, aiming to maintain the warehouse temperature even when a single system is under maintenance or malfunction, thus improving operational flexibility and cooling supply safety.
Each cold storage room is equipped with an evaporator on the top, and the evaporators are evenly distributed between the two refrigeration systems, making the air flow and temperature distribution in the warehouse more consistent and reducing local temperature differences. In addition to the two outdoor units, the project is also equipped with two gas coolers and two superheat elimination devices, with a total of 16 evaporators installed in the warehouse.
Control and Leakage Monitoring Integrated into Building System
The project control system integrates the refrigeration system and leak detection into the Building Management System (BMS), completing data interaction through standard communication protocols, so that temperature, alarms and equipment status can be viewed on one interface. For cold storage operators, this means leak detection no longer relies on manual inspection records, but can respond in linkage with other building equipment.
Requirements for Cold Storage Engineering from CO₂ Solution
The working pressure of the CO₂ system is significantly higher than that of conventional halocarbon systems. The pipe material, welding quality, valves and safety relief design all need to be selected according to high-pressure operating conditions; the layout of gas coolers also needs to consider heat dissipation conditions and installation space. For this reason, such projects often need to determine the warehouse partition, evaporator location and refrigeration station layout together in the design stage.
For enterprises in China that are planning cold storage or renovating old refrigeration machine rooms, the value of this case lies in the engineering organization method: grouping by temperature zones, dual systems as backup for each other, even arrangement of evaporators, and integrating leak detection into unified monitoring. These practices have nothing to do with the type of refrigerant used and can be directly referenced. Guizhou Hongya Glacier Refrigeration Equipment Co., Ltd. configures according to actual temperature zones and load partitions in the selection of cold storage units, warehouse supporting facilities and commissioning, helping customers implement backup and monitoring requirements into design drawings.
The choice of refrigerant ultimately depends on local policies and operation and maintenance capabilities, but the uniformity of temperature distribution in the warehouse and the maintainability of the system are always the key to whether the cold storage can operate stably in the long term.
Guizhou Hongya Glacier Refrigeration Equipment Co., Ltd.
2026-10-27
