MINNEAPOLIS — Stop & Shop, Quincy, Mass., is the latest chain to test a subcritical cascade refrigeration system using carbon dioxide as the refrigerant for low-temperature cases.
The chain plans to open a store in West Hartford, Conn., in November with that system, Kenneth Welter, manager, refrigeration engineering for Stop & Shop, told SN at the Food Marketing Institute's Energy & Store Maintenance Conference here. The store will also have a secondary-loop refrigeration system using glycol for medium-temperature cases.
Food Lion, Salisbury, N.C., which already has three stores with carbon dioxide cascade systems, does not plan to install any more until the federal government moves on cap-and-trade or similar legislation regulating HFC refrigerants, said Wayne Rosa, manager, energy and maintenance for Food Lion, during a presentation at the conference.
Otherwise, the overall payback on the systems, which are 25% to 40% more expensive than conventional systems, would be too long, he said.
