The solution designed by Carel exploits the evaporative cooling principle, whereby the air is cooled before entering the condensing unit, i.e. chiller or dry cooler. Atomisation of water into micrometric droplets gives rise to spontaneous evaporation, a process that takes place by using heat from the surrounding air, thus lowering its temperature. In the summer this brings reductions of around 10-15°C in condensing unit air inflow temperature, meaning a lightening of the work load and consequently considerable energy savings.

During the summer of 2019, due to a series of heat waves, many of the Delhaize chain’s stores were unable to get their refrigeration units to work properly. In addition to an overall decline in the performance of cold rooms and refrigerated showcases, the higher temperatures caused several units to shut down, with a consequent loss of the goods on display and, in some cases, forcing the stores to close for a few days. As a result of these difficulties and the corresponding economic damage, Delhaize started to look for a solution to prevent these situations from being repeated the following summers.

The chillBooster system immediately proved to be the best choice, and was successfully installed on 120 gas coolers in supermarkets throughout Belgium. The considerable flexibility of the Carel solution made it possible to adapt to the different needs of each of the more than 100 systems where chillBooster was installed. The choice to adopt evaporative cooling has meant that the existing units meet the original design requirements again, saving energy and bringing an immediate benefit in terms of efficiency.

In addition to chillBooster technology being successfully used in existing stores, it is also ideal for new installations: fluid coolers that have been designed to work with the Carel solution can be smaller and more economical, with a smaller heat exchange surface required due to the lower air inflow temperature than in systems that do not use evaporative cooling.