Refrigerant Mass Flow Control is basis for transcritical CO2 cycle, now available for conventional refrigerants

Mass flow is a necessity for the transcritical refrigeration cycle using carbon dioxide.  Until now, mass flow control has been sparsely used in the walk-in room industry.  Instead we have adopted a dependency on chemical companies in the forms of Freon, R-12, R-22, R-404a, R-134a, etc.  While some of these have been shown to be ozone depleting, others remain that are still synthetic and released into our atmosphere.  New ones will be created tomorrow.

Back in the 1800's CO2 was first discovered and used as a fluid with capacity for producing a refrigeration effect.  Used increasingly through the early 1900's CO2 was a natural fluid right along side the currently used ammonia systems.  CO2 was actually preferred over NH3 largely due to its non-toxic, and heavier than air, properties.  The downside to CO2 was its high operating pressure requiring very strong piping systems and tight material tolerances.  Due to the complexity of the design and limited availability of materials, CO2 systems were used primarily in the large industrial sector.

Enter the 60's.  Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) were introduced as the wonder fluid(s) available to produce a refrigeration effect without the need for expensive, high-pressure rated materials.  Since then, CO2 has remained a working fluid only in academic settings.  Ammonia systems (even though highly toxic) are still used today largely in the ice cream industry.

The Montreal Protocol of 1987 provided the framework for the reduction and ultimate removal of CFC products from the marketplace.  Similarly,  Hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFC's) products have also been checked off on the list of things we shouldn't use anymore.  Officially that date was January 1, 2010.
Now we are on to even more synthetic materials to to replace the environmentally unfriendly ozone depleting substances.

Refrigerant Mass Flow Control is an applicable technology for both conventional HFC (hydro-fluorocarbons, note the deletion of the chlorine atom) and transcritical CO2 refrigeration.

EcoClimate Services has a solution to meet the need for reduced energy consumption through its own EcoStep Refrigeration Controller.  Since it is mass flow based, the EcoStep can be used with either conventional or transcritical refrigeration operations.