file_refrigerator

Built to Last and Environment-Friendly
By Florence Pia G. Yu
Published: Gulf News
Dubai, U.A.E.
July 13, 2002
Supplement Section, page 11

      These are the factors that set commercial refrigerators on an entirely different platform from your ordinary refrigerator or "white goods".
     "We are talking about bulk storage of products that need to be refrigerated at a specific temperature. We need professional equipment built for a purpose, and can stand abuse because of continuous operation. Your home refrigerator may not be able to do the job," tells Sashi Menon, General Manager of Elux Equipment Trading (EET).
      Just like an Armani suit feels tailor-made for the wearer, commercial refrigerators are custom-built to fit merchandisers' need to a T.
        Chiller cabinets and open freezers for vegetables, fish, meat and poultry products, and display cabinets, refrigerated vending machines and merchandisers for soft drinks and ice-cream are commonly used at supermarkets, groceries and hypermarkets.
      Purpose-built refrigerators and freezers are used at hotels and restaurants. The refrigerating units are built mainly in stainless steel "to survive the amount of activity in the kitchen, with chefs always in a rush," Menon says.
       Special refrigerators are also used in the pharmaceutical industry to keep life-saving drugs and vaccines in the right temperature.
       "Professional refrigerating units work under extreme conditions. They are made to withstand varying temperature since they are placed anywhere--on roadsides, inside supermarkets. They are subjected to wear and tear. Users range from 2-year old children to grown-ups. At supermarkets, customers are opening doors hundreds of times. Each time they open the door, you are loosing cooling. This has to be rapidly compensated and should be supported with a system able to quickly recover the loss of coolness," Menon says.

Cool Stuff
       One of two types of refrigeration system serves as the lifeline for commercial refrigerators. The integral mode system or "plug in", and the remote refrigeration system are used today, tells P. Subramanian, Technical Services Manager of EET.
       Commercial refrigerators with an integral mode system have built-in compressors. "Just like a small fridge. You plug it in, and it works." These require lesser electrical output and take up little space, but with the compressors built in the refrigerating unit, they tend to make a lot of noise and heat emission.
        With the remote refrigeration system, the refrigeration compressors and associated components are place away from the refrigeration units. "You may find the compressors outside the shop area. Special refrigeration pipes and control are used so you get maximum efficiency and low noise levels," Subramanian explains. "This is why when you step into a supermarket, you don't hear too much noise coming from the motors."
       Merchandisers use one, or a combination of refrigeration units with their specific refrigeration systems. "Each refrigerating system has its purpose, and merchandisers mainly look for performance; cooling efficiency. "

ECOOLogically Speaking
       The UAE admittedly has one of the biggest markets for refrigeration units, tells Subramanian. However, jumping sales figures are not only what manufacturers are keeping their eyes on.
       "Today, we want units that are not only reliable but environmentally-friendly," states Tim Thorson, cooling product manager of Lennox Industries, in an article.
       Over the last decade, refrigeration manufacturers have slowly switched from using ozone-depleting refrigerants to more ozone-friendly compounds.
       This global environmental awareness was ushered by the passing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987. Under the treaty, developing countries have committed to freeze their consumption and production of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), and phase these out by January 2010.
       "For the last six to eight years, we have been using the refrigerant HFC (hydrofluorochloride) in our refrigerators. It is environmentally friendly, so we won't have a problem releasing this refrigerant into the atmosphere," tells Subramanian.
       HFCs are not preferred over CFCs and HCFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) because of their desirable safety characteristics:low toxicity and non-flammability, and their ability to reduce energy consumption.

Breaking the Ice
      Constant technological innovation prod commercial refrigerators to better levels. How far can it go?
      "At the end of the day, it's the consumer who decides the fate of the refrigeration industry. When you pick up a product, it has to be at the right temperature. You are happy, the merchandiser is happy, and the manufacturers are happy!" concludes Menon.

      Imagine life if you can't chill.
       Take out freezers, chillers and refrigerating machines from the picture, and what do you get? Ice-cream and dairy products turning to melted goo; meat products spoiling; fruit juices and other beverages sitting on the shelves in unappealing room temperature. And no ice-cold cans spewing out of cola vending machines!
      Uncool, isn't it?
       But thanks to today's refrigeration technology, you have all the reason to chill out.

Hot Machines for Cool People
       When it comes to preserving food in large quantities, product marketing, cooling efficiency and durability, commercial refrigerators have the market hot spot.

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