An Armagh refrigeration company has won a prestigious national award for its energy-saving refrigeration solution at a meat processing plant.

Shilliday Refrigeration picked up the prize for 'Industrial and Commercial Project of the Year' at the RAC Cooling Industry Awards night at the London Hilton, where 600 professionals in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry gathered to reward the finest products, projects and performance the sector has to offer.

Entries from nearly every major name in refrigeration and air conditioning were judged, and with the focus very much on energy-efficient solutions, Shilliday's simple, but cost-effective, idea for a new centralized refrigeration system at Loughgall company Hewitt Meats was the one which came out top in its category.

Shilliday's answer was a conversion from R22 and R404A to R134A. Shilliday specified four R134A compressors with a total capacity of 162 kW in a new centralized refrigeration system offering a COP of 3.0 in summer and 5.22 in winter. Electronic expansion valves, EC fans on condenser and evaporators and RDM controls were added to the system for improved efficiency.

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The team at Shilliday also installed a Eureka PTS system which can recover 140 litres of hot water per hour from the two 3 kW low temperature condensing units.

Providing a more straightforward answer to the customer’s needs, the new centralized refrigeration system resulted in a 19% drop in Hewitt’s energy bill over the period of a year, and a carbon footprint reduction estimated to be at least 80 tonnes a year.

"While we commend the use of natural refrigerants for most food processing facilities, it was not a viable option at Hewitt’s due to the amount of existing equipment on site which we were able to incorporate into the new design," said Shilliday's Technical Director, Jason Shilliday.

"We were able to provide a bespoke solution that wasn't overly complicated but that helped the client reduce his energy bill. We showed that it isn’t just the larger organizations that can benefit from green thinking, relatively small businesses can too."

Congratulating the company on its award win, James Annett, Director, Hewitt Meats, said: "Shilliday's new system is easily managed and has resulted in us saving money and energy. At a time when our supermarket customers are encouraging us towards 'greener' working practices, it’s extremely important for us to be as energy-efficient as we can be."

The judges' comments on the award win stated: "This is a contractor that is doing all the right things, pursuing best practice and convincing the client to incorporate the best in proven technology."

(CD)