Star Refrigeration, a Scottish manufacturer of industrial refrigeration systems, has doubled the frozen storage capacity of a NewCold high-bay automated warehouse in Corby, United Kingdom, with a 2.75MW (782TR) ammonia (R717) expansion system.
The installation completed the second phase of a three-phase project. It added 75,000 pallet positions, bringing the total capacity of the facility to 150,000 pallet positions, which are kept at a storage temperature of −22°C (−7.6°F). During the refrigeration installation, the warehouse remained fully operational, according to Star.
“The success of phase two hinged on close collaboration with Star Refrigeration,” said Richard Russell, Managing Director at NewCold UK. “Their ability to seamlessly integrate new capacity while optimizing our existing system has allowed us to operate more efficiently, sustainably and reliably.”
Star built its first ammonia system for a high-bay automated warehouse in Grimsby, England, in 1996 as part of a project with frozen food equipment manufacturer Frigoscandia. Today, the company maintains the refrigeration engine rooms of six high-bay warehouses in the U.K.
The system: Phase two extended the capacity of the existing refrigeration plant. It added 2MW (569TR) of additional cooling capacity to the 41m (134.5ft) high-bay section of the warehouse and 750kW (213TR) in the low-bay section. The warehouse opened at the end of 2022.
- To avoid working at heights and enable easier installation, the refrigeration manufacturer prefabricated ammonia pipework and drains off-site for integration into the existing structure.
- “The project team identified optimal locations for valve stations and electrical panels to reduce the time engineers spent in low-temperature environments,” Star said.
- The manufacturer’s Derby branch will provide maintenance and technical services for the NewCold Corby refrigeration system.
Next up: Phase three of the project involves an entirely new and separate cold storage warehouse currently under construction at the Corby site.
- Star will provide a standalone, single-stage ammonia pump system for the new building. “We are excited to continue supporting NewCold’s growth and innovation,” Star said in a LinkedIn post.
Operating costs: The specific energy consumption (SEC) ‒ the power required annually to cool a cubic meter of space ‒ for large-capacity cold storage with Star low-charge ammonia systems installed in the U.K. runs in the single digits.
- The 2023 annual SEC of a 300,560m2 (3,253,200ft2) automated warehouse in England with two packaged ammonia systems providing 1.24MW (353TR) of cooling capacity was 4.54kWh per cubic meter, according to Andy Pearson, Group Managing Director at the company.
- The system, installed in 2021, outperformed Star’s own best practices 2019 benchmark by 17% while maintaining cold storage at −21°C (−5.8°F).
Quotable: “Expanding our Corby facility was a critical step in scaling our operations to meet growing customer demand,” Russell said. “We are proud of what we have accomplished together and look forward to continuing that momentum in the next phase.”
“The success of phase two hinged on close collaboration with Star Refrigeration.”
Richard Russell, Managing Director at NewCold UK
