Retail Chain Giant Sainsbury Tests Liquid Nitrogen Cooled Refrigerated Trucks
Published On Jun 22, 2016
U.K.’s leading supermarket chain Sainsbury has taken an initiative to reduce the carbon emission and other pollutants from its cold storage trucks by opting for liquid nitrogen as the coolant. The company recently tested the refrigerated trucks with Dearman’s liquid nitrogen powered engine, although only for cooling unit. The trial will run for three months under the name “Clean Cold”. The route opted for this trial run will start from the company’s Waltham point warehouse to local stores in London.
The trucks, however, will be powered by regular diesel motors, and liquid nitrogen will be used for refrigeration of goods, thus helping emit less pollutants. It’s believed that the trial trucks would be able to save 1.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide, 27 kg nitrogen oxide and 2 kg of particular matter which is usually used in refrigeration unit.
Head of Sustainability, Sainsbury, Mr. Paul Crewe, said, “The trial forms part of the retailer's wider push to cut its carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2020, compared to a 2005 baseline.” This trial with Dearman is just one of innovations we've introduced to help us towards this goal,” he said in a statement. "Their zero-emission system is really exciting, to be running a liquid air engine quite literally means our cooling is running on thin air."
If the refrigeration unit is modified likewise in all refrigerated commercial vehicles across London, the city would be taking 49,125 tonnes less carbon dioxide and 22 tonnes of particulate matter per year. It’s equivalent of removing more than 300,000 cars from the city streets. Sainsbury is also testing R-425A as another cooling agent in its other three trucks under the same project “Clean Cold” to lessen the environmental pollution caused by its city transport.
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