Star Refrigeration, the UK-based parent company of Azane Inc., Missoula, Mont., completed the manufacture and install of a new cold store facility for Lineage Logistics, Novi, Mich., at its new Great Haddon, UK, site. This project consists of 15,000 pallet spaces of frozen warehouse capacity supporting Lineage’s plan for growth.

Lineage is a temperature-controlled logistics provider with over 1.4 billion cubic feet of storage capacity, and an infrastructure of 200 facilities in seven countries across North America, Europe and Asia.

The Peterborough development underwent an installation of a 75,000m3 cold store plant with a refrigeration capacity of 600kW. Results from recent energy performance data analysis for the site indicate that the Azanefreezer 2.0’s annual energy usage is one-third of that of UK’s “best practice” guidelines, meaning Lineage is set to cut carbon emission by 453 tons of CO2 per year compared to the UK’s “best practice” guidelines.

According to the specifications provided by Star Technical Solutions (STS), the international consultancy arm of Star Refrigeration, Lineage required a 600kW refrigeration system, which was designed to achieve a nominal storage design temperature of -24°C. Running costs were key to the plant’s design, with STS specifying a minimum condenser surface of 4,800 m² to achieve optimum condensing pressures throughout the year. Evaporator-absorbed power was also limited to 35kW, while the condenser-absorbed power should be equal to or less than 30kW to maximize efficiency and reduce electrical costs.

Star Refrigeration offered two independent AF300-S Azanefreezer 2.0 ammonia refrigeration plants. In order to adhere to STS’s technical specification, Star modified its existing AF300 unit by retaining the existing low-pressure receiver and compressors, but upgrading the unit’s condenser and base frame to a larger size. This allowed it to achieve a higher efficiency than that required by the tender, thus reducing running costs.

The Azanefreezer 2.0 delivered a number of different advantages, with the biggest draws concentrated in its efficiency and lower running costs. The use of a larger condenser allowed the facility to operate on 32.2kW for its evaporators—an 8.1% improvement on STS’s requirement—and just 12.5kW for its condenser—a 58.3% improvement. These improvements meant that running costs were significantly decreased over the whole lifecycle of the freezers.

The move also minimized capital costs. The Azanefreezer 2.0 is a modular, low-charge packaged ammonia freezer with patented low pressure receiver design, which allows for a reduction of the system’s ammonia refrigerant charge of up to 80% when compared to traditional pumped recirculation systems. Having all maintenance valves on the Azanefreezer 2.0 unit as well as the use of reverse cycle defrost make possible the elimination of hot gas valve stations at each cooler, including all the associated ventilation and gas detection components. This is a significant benefit in terms of reducing the risk of refrigerant leakage and simplifying ongoing maintenance.

The Azanefreezer 2.0 is assembled at Star’s manufacturing facilities and tested prior to dispatch, which reduces on-site installation times and expenses. It does not require a plant room either, eliminating third-party costs by dispensing with the need for a significant amount of accompanying infrastructure.

Also, the plant was designed to have no flanged or mechanical joints within the cold store itself, meaning there are no potential leakage points inside the store. Instead, all valves and mechanical joints are positioned on the exterior of the unit and at heights that make them easily accessible from a maintenance perspective.

Star offered Lineage a robust industrial refrigeration solution that delivers high efficiency and meets all of the customer’s needs while exceeding expectations with regards to improved evaporator, condenser power and surface area (5,618m2 instead of the 4,800m2 specified, representing an improvement of 17%).

“Star Refrigeration was able to respond to the most stringent requests for quality and efficiency and provided a solution that exceeded the technical requirements specified to satisfy the facility’s cooling need. We are impressed with the advantages offered by Star’s Azanefreezer 2.0 and the smooth delivery of the project,” says Jonathan Baker, executive director of Lineage Logistics in the UK.