Optimizing Energy System in a Supermarket : A case study analysis

Sammanfattning: With more restrictions regarding the use of refrigerants with high GWP-values, refrigeration systems that uses R744 (Carbon dioxide) as a refrigerant increases. Supermarkets are energy intense facilities where the refrigeration system utilize a significant part of the total utilized energy. Heat recovery have been proven beneficial and reduces the total energy utilization for the building.  This master thesis evaluates an existing R744 refrigeration system with heat recovery, for the purpose to find an optimal system configuration and control strategy that minimizes the operational costs. Today the refrigeration system uses a water-cooled condenser/gas cooler that during the period from February to November 2021 consumed 8 194 m3 of cooling water, that resulted in high water costs for the supermarket. With the development of a model that takes historical data as input can different system configurations and control strategies be tested and compered to the historical analysis of the existing refrigeration system. Four system configurations with different heat recovery solutions were evaluated.  The result of this study shows that the operational cost can be reduced by 31% (55 400 SEK) with a control strategy that adapts the discharge pressure to the facility’s heating demand. With maximized heat recovery the condenser/gas cooler load decreases and therefore the cooling water flow decreases too. With an additional heat exchanger in the supermarkets ventilation exhaust duct can the water consumption further be reduced, compared with similar system without an additional heat exchanger. The additional heat exchanger reduced the cooling water consumption by 1 400 m3 for the investigated period and reduced the total operational cost by 9 800 SEK. However, it is recommended to first apply the control strategy that adapts the discharge pressure to the heating demand, and from there evaluate the benefits of a heat exchanger in the exhaust duct.