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DEVELOPING CO2 REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS
International CO2 Congress in Finland
2 million kg. per year fish-processing plant
1000-meter-long all-season ski tube

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The use of CO2 in refrigeration is growing fast because it is the only non-toxic refrigerant, has no effect on the ozone layer and does not contribute to the greenhouse effect. C-dig, The Carbon Dioxide Interest Group*, an international organization which promotes the use of CO2 as a natural refrigerant, is holding its spring seminar in Uusikaupunki, Finland, 14-15.April, 2005.

The Finnish company Vahterus Oy, based in Kalanti and a founder member of C-dig, is involved in CO2 refrigeration because their fully-welded Plate & Shell® Heat Exchangers give excellent security against leakage when using refrigerants and are used in two innovative CO2 refrigeration projects in Finland.

New combined ski trail and walking track

A major new sports and tourist project currently under construction in Uusikaupunki is a new all-season 1 000-metre-long, 9-metre-wide, enclosed skiing and walking/running track, known as the 'Vahterus Ring'. A CO2/NH3 refrigeration system is being installed to keep the tube at an even temperature all the year round. Vahterus is supplying the PHSE CO2/NH3 cascade heat exchanger system as well as an NH3 droplet separator and condenser.

New CO2 fish-freezing tunnel

The first industrial plant in Finland to use CO2 as a refrigerant is one of two freezing tunnels built by Suomen Tekojää Oy at the Kalaset Oy fish-processing company in Uusikaupunki. Kalaset supplies some 2 million kg. per year of processed fish products to industry and institutional kitchens, such as hospitals. Non-toxicity and environmental protection were main reasons for Kalaset's decision.

The cooling equipment for the new freezing tunnel, supplied by Vahterus Oy, is based on the cascade principle, using an integrated high-pressure system consisting of a PHSE CO2/R404A cascade heat exchanger, CO2 receiver, CO2 subcooler and CO2 standby cooler and condenser.

Uusikaupunki was chosen as the venue for the C-dig conference because it is close to the Ski Tube and the fish-processing plant, and home to Tampere Technical University's refrigeration laboratory, which specialises in research into natural refrigerants.

Note to editors: C-dig includes key companies in refrigeration as well as research organizations and universities worldwide including Nestlé, Unilever, York, Gea, Danfoss, Mycom, Siemens, Hitachi, TNO (Holland), DTI (Denmark), Sintef Energy Research, (Norway), and Dresden Technical University - http://www.c-dig.org.

VAHTERUS Oy
Pruukintie 7
FI-23600 Kalanti,
Finland
Tel: +358 2 842 7000
Fax: +358 2 642 7029

www.vahterus.com