Aware of the requirements and pace of change from an environment and safety perspective, Hubbard wanted to develop a new product range for one of its customers to be ahead of legislation in the EU and the UK.
As specialists in commercial refrigeration, serving the retail and convenience sectors, food manufacturing and hospitality, Hubbard is also leader in cellar conditioning, being the UK’s first Carbon Trust approved supplier.
Head of Engineering, Ashwaq Mohammed at Hubbard, invited Rob Attawia, Regional Sales Manager and Neil Roberts, Technical Sales Director from Climalife to work quickly and collaboratively in suggesting a sustainable, cost-effective and eco-efficient refrigerant solution.
Climalife has worked closely with Hubbard Products for many years, keeping the team up to date on legislation, training and refrigerant replacement options.
From 1st January 2025, EU legislation states that self-contained stationary refrigeration systems must use a refrigerant with a GWP of <150.
The customer’s existing cold rooms were installed with R-448A (Solstice® N40) which has a GWP of 1387. F-Gas regulations continue to drive the industry towards much lower GWP refrigerants and so Hubbard wanted the customer to consider using an A2L refrigerant, removing any uncertainty felt.
Having sought advice from Climalife, after feasibility studies and discussions with related parties, R-455A (Solstice® L40X) with its GWP of 148, was chosen as the energy efficient refrigerant solution.
Neil Roberts explained: “As the need to use very low GWP refrigerants increases it’s important to consider all the options to get to the lowest GWP and best energy efficiency”.
CO2 was considered as an option however, the costs were calculated to be four times higher than the original R-448A system, due to system complexity.
R-455A was chosen over CO2 as it offered better functionality and performance. with only one third of the cost of an equivalent CO2 design so overall a more cost-efficient solution for this client. Hubbard also pulled on their experience on a similar project with a leading supermarket chain and so the project plan was set in motion.
The production and testing of new equipment: 10kW of cooling at -30°C room temperature. Bitzer Semi Hermetic Compressor.
Production started in October 2023, ahead of its original schedule date of January 2024 with the customer expressing new urgency of early implementation. Extensive testing was carried out on the equipment at Hubbard’s Ipswich site before being rolled out to the customer, with all expectations being met.
The unit was complex so that it could fulfil its aim to maintain the cold room temperature between -30°C to +50°C in various modes of operation. The control system worked well with R-455A to help manage difficult situations. The ease of implementation meant that the specifications matched, as well as the smooth transition to an A2L refrigerant. Plus, the awareness training required for handling A2L refrigerant is very similar to non-flammable products.
Ashwaq commented: “In the past Hubbard has used other low GWP refrigerants in cold rooms but R-455A had proven to be the most suitable solution for this particular application.”
As the design phase is now complete there is now a program in place to supply F-Gas compliant refrigerant systems to new cold store units.
The end customer now has piece of mind as they have solved their challenge to find a sustainable energy efficient refrigerant with low emissions.
Both the end customer and Hubbard Products Ltd now feel they are a step ahead in the market, due to the success of this collaboration. With a positive end to the project, both parties can move into the future with a very low GWP refrigerant solution and more units in the pharmaceutical and food processing market.
Since October 2023, there have been numerous units built, for cold rooms, by Hubbard Products.
For anyone still unsure about moving to an A2L refrigerant, Climalife can guide you towards an energy efficient and compliant solution.
The decision to use an A2L refrigerant has not only proven to be the most efficient solution but also a safe alternative for the end user.
As an industry, there are learnings to be taken from this case study and the urgency placed on finding a sustainable low GWP option for new equipment is not only pivotal to you or the end user but more importantly, the future.
Product focus :
- Very low GWP (146/148*)
- A2L safety class
- Alternative to R-404A, R-507A, R-452A, R-407A, R-407F, R-448A, R-449A for all direct expansion refrigeration applications.
- Good energy performance
- Lower indirect emissions
- Lower operating costs
- Low environmental impact
Commonly used in the installation of cold rooms such as pharmaceutical, food processing companies and other cold storage facilities.
*F-Gas III AR6 / AR4.