About the authorMike Fisher has over 35 years of experience with refrigeration systems. This background includes; service, installation, equipment manufacturing, research and development, project management, consulting engineering, system design and packaged systems.
Energy conservation is a very interesting field. With the advances of technology we have items like solar panels for energy generation or water heating, battery technology for energy storage and new forms of lighting like LED lamps. A recent article on LED lamps caught my attention recently and I thought it would be a good example for comparison to ammonia refrigeration systems.
I often see questions about this and wonder what sort of answer someone is expecting. Almost all industrial refrigeration use ammonia as a refrigerant. Although there is a renewed interest in CO2 refrigeration systems, ammonia is the dominant refrigerant by choice. When compared to any other mechanical refrigeration system the basic fundamentals apply.
When you try to evaluate the cost of operation what do you look for? The total of the monthly utility bill, the cost of energy, or something else? Utility charges are based on rate tariffs. These are the prescribed methods for billing users for the electricity and natural gas they consume.
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Much of the material used for ammonia refrigeration systems is carbon steel. Though various grades of this material are used for pressure vessel fabrication or piping there is one common problem associated with this.
What impact does location have on your energy use? Obviously, if you are located in the South or Western part of the US your ambient temperatures (wet bulb or dry bulb, depending on condenser type) will be higher year round. This can limit your efforts to lower the discharge pressure.
