Technical leaflet Industrial Refrigeration Valves for CO
2
Applications
Danfoss A/S (RC-CMS / MWA), 03 - 2005 RA0XA502 3
Introduction
The objective of this application guide is to
provide an overview of which Danfoss Industrial
Refrigeration products are suitable for use in CO
2
applications.
Today, Danfoss is offering a broad programme of
industrial products applicable for CO
2
, however
this is dependent on demands regarding the
design pressure. The table on page 8 lists
the components which are suitable for CO
2
applications together with the maximum
working pressure limits.
General information about CO
2
For further background information about CO
2
as
a refrigerant, please refer to the Danfoss article
"CO
2
Refrigerant for Industrial Refrigeration"
(literature number RZ0ZR).
There are a number of important factors to be
taken into consideration when determining the
design pressure.
1. Pressure during operation:
The pressure during operation is
dependent on actual system design
(single stage, cascade system or CO
2
-
”brine” system) and the load variation.
2. Pressure during “stand still”:
The pressure during stand still can be
very high and this has to be taken into
consideration:
• A small separate refrigeration system
can be used to keep the liquid
temperature at a level, where the
saturated pressure is lower than
the design pressure
• Designing the system with an expansion
vessel of a size that prevents the
pressure from exceeding the design
pressure.
• Designing the plant so that it can
withstand the saturated pressure at the
design temperature (approx. 80 bar)
From Danfoss’ experience, it would appear
that the most common solution for industrial
refrigeration applications is to use a small
separate refrigeration system to limit the
temperature of the liquid CO
2
.
Design pressure 3. Pressure tolerances for safety valves
(10 – 15 %)
Safety valves require a certain pressure
difference (difference between set pressure
and reseating pressure) to ensure that the
valve is closed properly.
Normally the closing tolerance is 10%
of the set pressure. Additionally, it is good
practice to add 3-5% to the closing
tolerance, to take care of any pressure
variations / peaks.
Note:
In the “IoR - Code of Practice” issued by
the Institute of Refrigeration in London, the
above mentioned tolerance is stated to be
20%
4. Temperature / pressure requrements for
defrosting
Depending on the actual design, different
ways of defrosting can be applied (natural,
water, electrical or CO
2
hot gas defrosting).
The CO
2
hot gas defrosting is the most
efficient, especially at low temperatures,
but it also has the highest pressure
demand. With a design pressure of PS=52
bar, it is possible to reach a defrosting
temperature of approx. 9-10°C. The
saturated pressure at 9°C is 43.9 bar g. By
adding 10% for the safety valves and
approx. 5% for pressure peaks, the
requirement is for pressure PS ~ 52 bar g.
There is not one common method to perform
defrosting. All methods, as described above, are
used, depending on the system, but also on the
availability of suitable compressors and other
components.