Carrier Transicold, provider of container refrigeration systems, has introduced a new sustainable refrigeration for the marine shipping industry. This new[ds_preview] Naturaline design, commercially available since last October, has now been modified for a two-year road transport trial. The collaborative project involves UK retailer Sainsbury’s, which has agreed to test the world’s first natural refrigerant trailer. According to Carrier Transicold president David Appel it is »the very first time that our Naturaline system has been mounted to a box trailer anywhere in the world«. The test marks a new step in intermodal use of more eco-friendly cooled containers. The new Naturaline product family will thus be in use at sea and on the road using the refrigerant carbon dioxide (CO2), which has a global warming potential (GWP) of 1, rather than a synthetic refrigerant with a significantly higher GWP. For the maritime version of Naturaline already in use the GWP is 1,400 to 3,900 times lower than that of synthetic refrigerants used in refrigerated containers today, Carrier Transicold announced. At sea trials in 2012 the new Naturaline container refrigeration system compared closely to Carrier Transicold’s Primeline unit when it comes to deep frozen capacity – 4,400 watts (15,000 Btu/h) at box temperature of -29 °C (-20 °F) and ambient of 38 °C (100 °F). The manufacturer said lifetime carbon emissions are reduced by as much as a 35% for the maritime version compared to previous units with synthetic refrigerant. Moreover, the unit delivers among the industry’s best pulldown capacities at high ambient temperatures typical of tropical environments.
Over a rigorous two-year long sea trial Naturaline was proven to reduce fuel consumption, operating successfully in temperatures that varied from -22 to 13 °C. It is expected that the road transport trial will also prove the technology’s energy saving capabilities.
