NOSKE-KAESER Maritime Solutions is to install an environmentally-friendly provision refrigeration system for Meyer Werft’s S.714 newbuilding for Saga Cruises.
Instead of the usual refrigerant, CO2 will be used for the freezers. The natural gas has a GWP of 1, the lowest relative greenhouse potential. By comparison, commonly used refrigerants for provision refrigeration systems are R407F and R507A with GWP values of between 1825 and 3985.
“Meyer Werft and British shipping company Saga Cruises were seeking an environmentally-friendly and sustainable solution to ensure clean and reliable provision cooling on board for the long term,” said Joachim Bunnies, NOSKE-KAESER head of sales. “Since new ships being built are planned for a service life of up to 30 years, and many refrigerants cannot be used in the coming years, due to excessive impact on the environment, we offered our partners a solution which has already been successfully tested on land and which will be tailored specifically for cruise ships.”
In addition to minimal environmental impact, NOSKE-KAESER’s CO2 provision refrigeration systems feature a high degree of efficiency and compactness, the company claimed. The CO2 refrigeration units are around 40% lighter than units employing conventional refrigerants and require about 60% less power for the same refrigerating capacity.
The provision system is being designed as a cascade system. For standard cooling (temperatures of +1 to + 12 deg C) a cooling brine is used, which is again used to cool the CO2 unit. In turn, the CO2 system operates using a freezer brine, lowering the freezer storage rooms to a temperature of -28 deg C.
“NOSKE-KAESER Maritime Solutions is providing an innovative solution that meets our high technical, economic and environmental standards. We are very pleased with the very partnership-based and solution-oriented co-operation,” said Timo Wiegratz, Meyer Werft Project Engineer.
The company will deliver all the refrigeration technology and associated control systems to supply the 32 provision cold storage rooms on board the new cruise ship. The system is being manufactured and tested in-house in Hamburg.
In addition to engineering and commissioning of the system, the services being provided also include crew training. Equipment delivery is to take place in mid-2018.
“The market potential for our provision refrigeration systems is great,” said NOSKE-KAESER’S Joachim Bunnies. “We are already working on two further projects and are certain that our solution is a sustainable one. After all, the significance of environmentally-friendly systems is crucial in all areas.”
An agreement has been signed with Meyer Werft to equip additional newbuildings with the company’s CO2 provision refrigeration systems.
