Since the company was established in 2008, it has earned an excellent reputation amongst industrial bakers around the world, thanks to its innovative approach and tailor-made solutions.
Design of eco-friendly facilities
In order to offer clients sustainable and lasting facilities that comply with F-Gas regulation, IceCool takes into account the GWP, TEWI and life cycle (LCCP)* of a refrigerant.
Following several conclusive experiments, particularly that of the Feihl bakery in Neumarkt, Germany, mentioned in our previous issue**, Peter Wehrens, Export Manager R&D at IceCool International BV, is convinced that Solstice® L40X (R-455A) is a suitable and effective solution, even when the external temperature is both high and highly variable.
New facility for Grobe
IceCool has designed a new baking room for cooling, proofing and storing bread dough for the German family-run bakery, Grobe, which, with around 400 employees and 56 outlets, is one of the main employers of this sector in Dortmund and the surrounding area.
The new bakery has ten 16m2 cooling units that operate at a temperature of between -15 °C and +15 °C.
IceCool’s Slow Prover Tray system comprises a fully automatic cooling and proofing process and removes excess moisture so that the dough can develop its full flavour without forming a skin.
R-455A outperforms R-744
After studying the advantages and disadvantages of a CO2 system in terms of energy use, safety, leaks, flammability, installation and maintenance costs, and respect for the environment, it was quickly decided that Solstice® L40X (R-455A) should be used for the refrigeration system of the 500m2 warehouse.
Consideration of A2L classification
In order to comply with the current regulations on low flammability, the installation comprises of two refrigeration circuits with a total refrigeration power of 108 kW. Each circuit contains 72.9kg of Solstice® L40X refrigerant (R-455A) and is designed to fall under category III of the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED), thereby reducing the frequency of the leak test to once a year.
Regarding the temperature glide
For their first project with R-445A, IceCool worked closely with Güntner to design the evaporators and condensers.
Peter Wehrens explains : « We use electronic valves on all of the evaporators in order to ensure a small delta T in the evaporator across the whole temperature range. This is necessary as moisture in the room is an important factor for the production of unpackaged dough.
Finally, the temperature glide does not pose a problem: you just have to oversize the evaporator and keep the temperature difference as small as possible ».
| Description of the installation (medium temp.) |
|
| Evap T / Cond.T | -20°C / +30°C |
| Cooling capacity (kW) | 54 |
| Condensing capacity (kW) | 79.1 |
| Bitzer compressors |
3 x 4PES-12Y |
| Classification | A2L |
| Refrigerant | R-455A |
| Load (kg) | 72.9 |
| CO2 Tonnes Eq. |
10.7 |
| PED category |
III |
| Leak test per year |
1 |
*GWP = Global Warming Potential, TEWI = Total Equivalent Warming Impact and LCCP = Life Cycle Climate Performance
**Climalife Contact #15