Roy Verschuure founded Verschuure Koudetechniek in Dreumel, Netherlands, 22 years ago and now serves around 2,200 customers in the fruit and vegetable, hospitality, maritime, butchery and service sectors
« With 12 employees, including eight in the field, we are active throughout the centre of the Netherlands », explains Roy.
When it comes to refrigeration needs, he is increasingly finding that so-called “natural” refrigerants such as CO₂ and propane are considered standard solutions, but these do not always meet the reality of customer needs.
About three years ago, Roy built his first installation with Solstice® L40X (R-455A) and since then he has been working almost exclusively with this refrigerant for new installations between -30°C and +5°C.
« It has a low GWP, is sustainable and technically straightforward to use. It’s the ideal solution for limiting environmental impact without skyrocketing costs and energy consumption », Roy tells us.
R-455A condensing units to cool the fruit and vegetable hall
His customer, VersCombi, a fourth-generation family business, focuses entirely on semi-processed fruit and vegetable products. Anthony and Laura Derks’ great-grandfather started out selling potatoes directly from the field, and today the company supplies 2,600 products to processing plants and commercial kitchens.
Impressive logistics: orders placed today are collected from suppliers at night and delivered fresh the next day. With 25 employees and 10 lorries constantly on the road, there is virtually no stock. Everything that arrives must be immediately cooled to between 2 °C and 5 °C.
« Our entire hall is one big cold room», explains Anthony. « Without reliable
refrigeration technology, our business would literally grind to a halt. »
An energy congestion problem
When VersCombi took over an old building from a meat processing company, they were quickly confronted with an increasingly common problem: energy congestion. Although the building once had a large power supply, the energy supplier had significantly reduced the capacity during the period of inactivity.
« We couldn’t increase the capacity », says Anthony. « We had to do a lot with very little electricity. »
This is where market advice and reality collided. Although CO₂ is often proposed as the standard for sustainability, the electrical demand of such a system was too high for the available connection.
Roy explains: « Natural fluids such as CO₂ have their place in the market, but they must match the customer’s infrastructure. »
Roy therefore steered VersCombi towards a Solstice® L40X (R-455A) installation:
« This allowed us to build an efficient installation that works perfectly even during hot summers, while respecting the building’s electrical limitations. »
For VersCombi owners, this was the deciding factor:
« We were looking for the most sustainable, solution, but also one that was operationally feasible given our electrical constraints. »
The choice fell on six Silensys TX refrigeration units combined with dual-blow evaporators, which are essential for uniform temperature distribution in the large hall. With an evaporation temperature of -5 °C and a condensation temperature of +38 °C, the installation offers a cooling capacity of 11.9 kW. With a power consumption of only 5,900 watts and a refrigerant charge of 4.9 kg of R-455A per unit, maximum efficiency is achieved without overloading the electrical network. The entire system is carefully controlled by Pego TTL controllers.
« Even without grid congestion, CO₂ would not have been the right solution here. This project is simply too small for a cost-effective CO₂ installation. R-455A offers a much better balance between sustainability and affordability » concludes Roy.
On fishing boats: tailor-made solutions
Verschuure’s expertise as an installer also extends to the water, where the challenges are even greater. In the compact engine rooms of trawlers, space is limited and safety requirements are extreme:
« On a fishing boat, you simply cannot install propane, CO₂ or ammonia for safety reasons. In the event of a leak in an enclosed space below deck, it is immediately dangerous. R-455A is therefore the safest and most suitable solution. »
Verschuure has already equipped around 15 vessels with R-455A systems, replacing older R-404A or R-22 systems.
Ice production to guarantee freshness
These projects are not only about cooling the holds: the systems also have to supply an ice machine that produces ice chips, which are placed between the layers of fish to guarantee quality during the days at sea.
Everything is custom-made: the machines are built in Verschuure’s workshop and then fully assembled on the vessel. The schedule is very tight: a trawler often arrives on Friday or Saturday and leaves on Monday.
« This means we have to work extremely quickly to get the installation up and running again. This commitment and flexibility is what sets us apart » explains Roy.
For Roy Verschuure, having quick and reliable information is very important in finding the right solution. That is why he values his good working relationship with Climalife.
« When I am faced with an old existing system and need to react quickly, I often call Michael Van Beek at Climalife to get information on the best solution », explains Roy.
R-455A, a proven solution for the future
The experience gained in recent years shows that the choices made now serve as a model for many other projects. Roy Verschuure notes that network congestion issues and the demand for affordable, sustainable solutions are common throughout the sector.
For example, a young cherry grower is currently facing exactly the same challenges: he is keen to invest in new cold stores, but the on-site electrical capacity is simply insufficient for a CO2 installation. For entrepreneurs like him, using R-455A is the key to growing their business while becoming more sustainable. By continuing this trend, Verschuure Koudetechniek offers a realistic and proven path to the future.
Roy concludes : « We now have more than three years of practical experience with this refrigerant in a wide variety of conditions. The systems operate stably, customers are satisfied, and we are significantly reducing environmental damage without it becoming unaffordable. As an installer, we have a duty to offer responsible refrigeration.»
