Advansor Said It Has Installed Latin America’s ‘Largest Single CO₂ Rack’ in a Costa Rican Walmart Distribution Center

Danish manufacturer Advansor has installed “Latin America’s largest single CO₂ (R744) rack,” a 1.7MW (483TR) SteelXL unit in a new Walmart distribution center in San José, Costa Rica, according to LATAM Sales Manager Mauricio Baena.

The system provides 950kW (270TR) of medium-temperature (MT) cooling capacity, 510kW (145TR) of low-temperature (LT) capacity and 246kW (70TR) for heating, Baena told NaturalRefrigerants.com, with the local contractor Dicoma Corporation handling the system setup. Recovered heat from the system is used for freezer-room floor heating, while a separate system provides hot gas defrost.

The details: To increase efficiency, the rack uses parallel compression and permanent magnet motors to drive the compressors.

• The SEPR (seasonal energy performance ratio) of the MT system is 3.56 and 1.96 for the LT system, according to Baena.
• Unlike COP, which reflects system efficiency at fixed conditions, SEPR represents performance over a typical year, accounting for varying loads and ambient temperatures.

Why CO₂: Walmart has used different technologies for projects of this size in the past, Baena noted. However, it chose to go with CO₂ in this warehouse for several reasons, including lower capital expenditure and onsite implementation costs compared to other natural refrigerant solutions.

• Additional factors highlighted by Baena included the support of the contractor and manufacturer and the simplicity of the installation process.

By the numbers: In December 2024, there were a total of 100 Latin American industrial sites using transcritical CO₂, with 50 sites in South America, 35 in Mexico and 15 in Central America, according to ATMOsphere’s “2024 Natural Refrigerants: State of the Industry” report. ATMOsphere is the publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com.

• By November 2023, Advansor had installed transcritical CO₂ systems in 48 industrial applications and 41 commercial applications in Latin America, according to Baena. He provided the installation figures in a presentation at the ATMO LATAM Summit 2023, also organized by ATMOsphere.

Quotable: “CO₂ is a well-proven technology already used in stores in the region,” Baena said. “With this installation, Advansor continues its LATAM leadership in the installation of CO₂ refrigeration in industrial applications.”

“With this installation, Advansor continues its LATAM leadership in the installation of CO₂ refrigeration in industrial applications.”

Mauricio Baena, LATAM Sales Manager at Advansor