Field measurements of CO2 refrigeration systems with heat recovery in retrofitted ice rinks.

Abstract

Ice rinks have a high coinciding cooling and heating demand which turns them into ideal heat recovery applications. By using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a refrigerant in a transcritical operation, required high temperatures (e.g. for dehumidification, space heating and hot water) can be supplied which in combination with a suitable heating system design can result in very high heat recovery performance. This study compares the measured energy performance and life-cycle cost of five ice rinks in Sweden recently retrofitted from conventional refrigeration systems (HFC and ammonia) to transcritical carbon dioxide refrigeration systems with heat recovery. The field measurements show that the operational energy use can be cut down by as much as 55% which makes the investment profitable in comparison with the previous conventional systems. Furthermore, in some cases the ice rink also became self-sufficient on its own recovered heat, eliminating the need for an external heating system.