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DOMINICK'S STARTS SHIFT TO CFC-FREE COOLANTS

NORTHLAKE, Ill. -- Dominick's Finer Foods here completed converting to hydrofluorocarbons in three stores this month. It is the first step in a commitment to switch to the new-generation coolants chainwide, said John Turek, the chain's manager of engineering and maintenance.The company will retrofit 11 stores with HFC refrigerants by the end of the year and will eventually make the switch in all 101

NORTHLAKE, Ill. -- Dominick's Finer Foods here completed converting to hydrofluorocarbons in three stores this month. It is the first step in a commitment to switch to the new-generation coolants chainwide, said John Turek, the chain's manager of engineering and maintenance.

The company will retrofit 11 stores with HFC refrigerants by the end of the year and will eventually make the switch in all 101 locations.

The move directly to HFCs, rather than to the less-expensive hydrochlorofluorocarbons such as HCFC-22, reflects Dominick's confidence that the new generation of coolants is ready for widescale use. It also represents the chain's determination to find a long-term rather than interim solution for its refrigerant needs, Turek said.

"It seems as though everywhere we turn, the manufacturers, the legislative bodies and the international agencies are talking about banning [HCFC] 22," he said. "So we're trying to get ourselves into a position where we're not going to be affected by any outsider making a decision for us.

"We decided, let's get out of the chlorofluorocarbon business altogether," he added.

The first three stores to undergo retrofits late this month included locations in Naperville, Bollingbrook and Glendale Heights. The latter store, a 90,000-square-foot facility, contains some 350 feet of low-temperature cases and more than 500 feet of medium-temperature units.

The ozone-depleting CFC gas, R-502, used in freezer cases is being flushed out and replaced with AZ-50, an HFC blend manufactured by Allied-Signal Chemicals, Morristown, N.J. Some medium-temperature cases are being retrofitted with AZ-50, while others that were using R-12, also a CFC, will be charged

with 134A, an HFC, Turek said.

Dominick's plan to convert all refrigerant systems to be CFC-free followed a three-month test completed about six months ago, Turek said. The 11 stores scheduled for retrofits this year range in size from 50,000 to 90,000 square feet.

Turek could not specify a timetable for the entire chain's conversion to chlorine-free coolants. "We are committed to becoming CFC-free as soon as is fiscally possible. New and remodeled stores will be CFC-free right out of the box." Later this year, Dominick's will explore CFC-free options for air-conditioning systems.

Other supermarkets making the move to CFC-free refrigerants include Hannaford Bros., Scarborough, Maine, which last month finished converting its five Vermont stores to HFC coolants. "And we'll be cleaning up New York before the end of June," added Tom Mathews, facilities and energy engineer.

Mathews said the 95-store chain's plan to eliminate CFCs from its refrigeration systems has progressed well this spring, though at a more "leisurely" pace than originally intended.

Hannaford Bros. initially had a self-imposed June 1, 1994, deadline for total elimination of chlorine-based coolants. However, when the cut-off date for production of CFCs was extended one year, Hannaford relaxed its conversion schedule, and now plans to be CFC-free by fourth-quarter 1994.

To date, low- and medium-temperature refrigeration cases in 32 stores are completely CFC-free; among those, Mathews characterizes 18 locations as "zero ozone-depleting, meaning even the air conditioners are running on HFCs. And that has been our standard for the past year and a half: HFCs for everything."

Shaw's Supermarkets, an 87-store chain headquartered in East Bridgewater, Mass., has progressed with its conversion, according to Bill Burdwood, manager of refrigeration.

A dozen stores are now being converted, he said, and six more locations will be remodeled by year-end, for a total of 20 CFC-free facilities. "Then we've got the HCFC stores, the R-22s, out there. We still feel confident they're good for a while. Fifty percent of our refrigerant charge is R-22 right now," Burdwood said.

Jitney Jungle Stores, Jackson, Miss., currently has 14 stores in various stages of retrofit for CFC-free coolants, said Norm Twinsdale, consultant overseeing the refrigeration department. "Most of those are complete," he said, and three more stores received all new equipment. Seven additional locations are undergoing prep work such as leak detection and hardware adjustments.