Spain. Completed a few months ago, Barajas became the first of the 37 Makro stores in Spain (Madrid), equipped with a refrigeration system that uses only CO2 as a refrigerant.
After opening its doors on April 22, 2015, Makro Barajas quickly became a benchmark for the edge of technological innovation in commercial refrigeration applications. The highlight is its transcritical CO2 cooling system, which was installed by Cofrico and complies with EU F-gas regulations, as well as the F-gas tax in Spain.
The store includes a construction area of 11,700 m2 of which 9,560m2 is dedicated to the sales area. With an investment of 17 million euros, the Barajas store represents a true state of the art point of sale with energy efficiency improvements at the center of its operations.
Some of the features of the installation are as follows:
- The TC CO2 cooling system consists of independent circuits with a capacity of 500 kW for positive temperature and 100 kW for negative temperature
- Four gas coolers located on the roof of the building
- The incorporation of an energy-saving system, which improves the coefficient of performance (COP) of the circuits without modifying the performance of the system
- The use of a compressor system in parallel when the ambient temperature is high
- The use of frequency converters for compressors, evaporation fans and gas coolers, as well as for the economizer unit to maximize energy savings
- The installation of an indirect system chiller using glycol when the ambient temperature is high and there are spikes in electricity demand
- Refrigerated cabinets are equipped with doors, LED lighting and electronic expansion valves, meeting energy efficiency requirements
- Cold rooms and engine rooms are equipped with CO2 detectors in order to detect any leaks. Saving and cold storages have safety valves to help relieve pressure in low and high pressure circuits, if needed
