As the EU’s 2021 energy saving legislation looms over the UK’s refrigeration market, the industry is being urged to proactively target compressor efficiency in order to fulfil its carbon reduction obligations.

Compressors are by far the largest energy consumer within a refrigeration system – be it a chiller unit or a direct refrigeration system – and the technology has been highlighted as an area that needs improving as part of Lot 31 of the European Commission’s Ecodesign Directive.

According to temperature control equipment experts, ICS Cool Energy, the refrigeration industry consequently faces a major challenge in the years ahead to reduce compressor power consumption without affecting productivity.

Technical manager at ICS Cool Energy, Brent Hall (pictured right), said: “A compressor’s basic function will always expend a certain amount of energy, and as the principles of vapour compression will remain the same, it is the compressor technology which must change in order to achieve the greater target efficiencies outlined by the Ecodesign Directive.”

Operating processes of larger compressors should serve as inspiration for the industry, ICS Cool Energy says. One such example would be oil-free compressors, such as the Turbocor range, which use magnetic bearings to offer improved efficiency and reliability levels by reducing moving parts. However, such compressors are not suitable for all applications therefore a decision should be made as part of the system design stage, not afterwards.

Mr Hall added: “Ultimately one of the most accessible methods of improving energy efficiency in the refrigeration market is to use built-in optimised variable speed drives (VSD),which in essence the Turbocor does.”

“Many compressors are currently running on one fixed speed regardless of demand, and generally achieve a co-efficient of performance (or energy efficiency rating) of 3kw of cooling to 1kw of power. However, applying part-load optimisation through a VSD to scroll and screw compressors could allow operators to achieve a ratio of 4.5-5kw of cooling to every 1kw of power: an improvement of circa 50-60 per cent.”

Mr Hall concluded: “On the whole it appears that the technology is not too far away, as VSDs are currently available as optional extras on larger plant, and both inverter-driven screw compressors and digital scroll compressors have also been introduced to the market. However for the industry to realistically achieve the savings mandated by the EU, such advances must become commonplace across all chiller equipment within the next 10 years, if not sooner.”