Lead Performer: Emerson Climate Technologies – Sidney, OH
Partners:
-- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
-- NETenergy
-- Albertsons
-- ComEd
DOE Total Funding: $2,527,000
Cost Share: $635,000
Project Term: October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2024
Funding Type: Funding Opportunity
Project Objective
Open vertical medium temperature refrigerated display cases comprise nearly 50% of total case lineups in a typical supermarket, with more than 80% of their cooling load attributed to infiltration of air from the surrounding space. The infiltrated air is due to a design that relies on forced convective heat transfer, from the air curtain, to extract heat and maintain product temperature. In addition to being the dominant source of inefficiency, the air curtain design results in substantial cold air spillage in shopping aisles, which hinders human comfort. This project aims to address the shortcomings of the current state of technology by eliminating the air curtain and introducing a novel hybrid cooling mechanism that minimizes the infiltrated/exfiltrated air while maintaining product temperatures within FDA food safety temperature guidelines. The project aims to eliminate the dominant source of inefficiency, and shopper discomfort, from today’s open vertical refrigerated cases. In addition, the project will validate a design approach that 1) puts the display case as the central component of the refrigeration system, 2) integrates closely to the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and water heating systems, and 3) enables the display case to serve as a flexible grid resource.
Project Impact
Design, fabricate, and validate a next-generation self-contained, refrigerated open vertical display case that integrates energy efficiency, demand flexibility, environmental friendliness, affordability, and human comfort improvement.
Contacts
DOE Technology Manager: Payam Delgoshaei
Lead Performer: Juan Catano Montoya