Advansor launches CO2 rack for smaller urban supermarkets
April 29, 2023
Danish OEM Advansor, one of the leading producers of CO2 (R744) racks in Europe, has launched a CO2 rack for smaller urban supermarkets and store retrofits. The ValuePack Light offers up to 45kW (12.8TR) for medium-temperature (MT) and up to 15kW (4.3TR) for low temperature (LT) applications.
Details of ValuePack Light were shared by Lisette Lykke Hansen, Advansor’s Strategic Marketing and Digitalization Manager, and Wim Tobback, Belgium Area Sales Manager, at EuroShop 2023, where the product was first showcased.
EuroShop took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, from February 26 to March 2.
The ValuePack Light fits in between Advansor’s MiniBooster and ValuePack in terms of size and capacity, offering end users “compact but efficient solutions,” explained Tobback.
The new iteration is a standardized product with high energy efficiency, he said, adding that it builds on end users’ experience with Advansor’s existing products, namely its ValuePack rack, which is one of its best sellers.
Low superheat module
Advansor’s Ultra-Low Superheat Module for CO2 racks was also on display at EuroShop. According to Hansen, the module has become more popular over the last six months, which has driven the manufacturer to develop a full factory line for its production.
As an extension of its ultra-low superheat module, Advansor has also launched a low superheat module for smaller racks that extends the energy efficiency of low superheat to more end users, she added.
Both the ultra-low and low superheat modules are energy-saving options that customers can add to their CO2 racks to boost system efficiency.
Integrated ‘climate solutions’
One of the key messages Advansor is sharing with its customers is the importance of integrated, all-in-one systems, which the manufacturer is referring to as “climate solutions.”
“We want our racks to be more than just racks,” said Hansen. “We want them to be climate solutions that provide cooling, heating, freezing and air-conditioning all in one rack. By recovering heat from air-conditioning and refrigeration, we can provide space heating and hot water.”
While Advansor has offered integrated systems for many years, their popularity is increasing due to sustainability targets and rising energy prices, she said.
“We can see that the end users in food retail chains are introducing more and more ambitious climate action goals, and now they are looking more to 2040 or even 2030,” she added. “People realize that it’s now, and it’s important.”
From a sustainability perspective, natural refrigerants – particularly CO2 – are a big theme, explained Hansen.
The drive for energy efficiency is also generating significant interest in Advansor’s energy calculation tool, which allows customers to compare the potential energy savings and ROI for different refrigerants and product options, like its low superheat module.
Data is based on real-life calculations with multiple years of testing and use.
As Hansen observed, “energy saved today is energy that doesn’t need to be produced tomorrow.”
Larger-capacity systems
In addition to smaller racks like its ValuePack Light, Advansor also manufactures larger systems up to 10KW (2,843TR), which tend to serve district heating plants, explained Hansen.
For food retail, which is Advansor’s main market segment, the manufacturer’s CuBig II has proven to be a popular system, she added.
Advansor has now sold more than 50 of its CuBig II, which was first showcased at the Chillventa trade show in Germany in October 2022.
The rack is designed for larger supermarkets, hypermarkets and smaller industrial applications – such as distribution centers and district heating plants – and provides up to 650kW (184.8TR) of heating, 410kW (116.6TR) of MT cooling and 330kW (93.8TR) for LT cooling, as well as offering air-conditioning.