Sainsbury’s to launch trial of Dearman liquid nitrogen reefer cooling agent
This is an interesting development in the food industry, which could spill over to the BioPharma industry, and potentially improve the sustainability & quality of its cold chain. Presumably a system without a compressor, in addition to being zero emission (although, of course, emissions are created when manufacturing liquid nitrogen) may have fewer moving parts, and could therefore be more reliable and require less maintenance, thus lowering the overall risk:
UK supermarket group Sainsbury’s is set to become the first major fresh produce shipper to test a refrigerated delivery truck cooled by a liquid nitrogen-powered engine, which cuts out the need to use a diesel-powered genset.
The developer of the technology, UK-based Dearman, said the abolition of a genset means powering the reefer trailers is effectively emission-free.
Sainsbury’s will trial for an initial three-month period the new technology, which “harnesses the rapid expansion of liquid nitrogen to deliver zero-emission power and cooling”, on a truck based at its Waltham Point depot, delivering to stores in London.
Source: The Loadstar
