Energy Consumption and Performance Comparisons of Supermarket Refrigeration Systems.

Over the past decade, the use of technologies that are alternatives to the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) direct-expansion (DX) systems for supermarket refrigeration have continued to garner interest. The market for such alternative systems has been thriving for several years in Europe and is beginning to gain some momentum in North America. One of the major unresolved issues with use of novel refrigeration systems is obtaining an accurate measurement of the energy consumption for system comparison. The motivation for having accurate energy consumption is discussed along with field results that have been published. Low-temperature systems are the main focus of the discussion due to the larger energy consumption. However, the issues discussed also pertain to medium-temperature systems. The factors necessary to formulate a proper comparison of systems are presented as well as a discussion of the need to perform testing to determine the impact of these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]