Extended CO2 Cooling Platform

The purpose of this project is to develop and test control and cloud solutions for CO2-based, medium-sized refrigeration systems and heat pumps. The company’s existing solutions are expanding to include smaller CO2-based refrigeration systems, with a view towards market diversification to larger refrigeration systems, where the demand for CO2-based cooling is currently high. Work on this project involves solutions for heat pumps that can deliver high water temperatures. Within this project, industrial electronics used for advanced control of CO2-based cooling processes, as well as for supporting cloud solutions for data management, will be developed and tested.

Challenge

The stricter regulations for the use of HFC refrigerants, additional energy efficiency requirements from the EU, and increased availability of important components needed to build CO2-based refrigeration systems together mean that the market in which Reftronix ApS operates is growing strongly.

Solution idea

Due to the growing market for CO2-based refrigeration systems, Reftronix ApS has received several specific customer inquiries about a CO2 management solution for medium-sized refrigeration systems, not only because they are more profitable, but also because some end users, which are typically supermarkets and 24-hour service shops, have long awaited a solution that enables all refrigeration systems in a single store to be cooled with CO2 as the refrigerant.

Project deliverables

Develop a concept design for medium-sized, CO2-based cooling systems for an early heat pump prototype, and develop ideas and concepts for a new cloud user interface. Develop new algorithms for capacity management, build test unit, prototype, and expand laboratory, test and verify capacity management algorithms, as well as produce field test-ready control. Develop algorithms with a focus on heat recovery and energy efficiency, build a heat pump prototype, test and verify the algorithms, and manufacture a field test-ready heat pump.

Problem owners

• Reftronix ApS

Problem solvers

• Temp-Tech
• SDU: University of Southern Denmark

This project is financed by Energy Cluster Denmark’s Industrial Electronics Innovation (IEI) support programme. It offers three years of support to allow small- and medium-sized businesses to collaboratively develop innovative electronic products focused on energy optimisation. The IEI project is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

Project video presentation (in Danish)