The German company GEA, a leading manufacturer of machinery and appliances for many fields of application including refrigeration, was awarded with the RAC Cooling Industry Awards in the "Contractor of the Year 2020" category.

The world-famous award recognizes companies that have made a special commitment to innovative and environmentally friendly solutions in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector. For GEA, already winner in 2018 at the RAC Cooling Industry Awards for the "Building Energy Project" category, it was not the only success at the 2020 Awards. GEA also ranked first in the “Building Energy Project of the Year” category, receiving a “highly commended” rating.

GEA and Quorn® Foods two strong partners in sustainability

For GEA, the Quorn® Foods project involved installing a new compressor to improve performance while replacing a faulty refrigeration system during a planned shutdown at the food manufacturer's facility at its headquarters in North Yorkshire, UK. United.

The customer, as well as the judges of the RAC Cooling Industry Awards, were very satisfied with the GEA solution. By investing in a GEA Grasso Conversion Kit (GGCK), Quorn® Foods benefited from a larger compressor that replaced outdated equipment and increased cooling capacity by a further 7%. This has not only improved the efficiency of the site, but has also resulted in energy savings and a lower carbon footprint. GEA also updated the existing control system with a new OMNI retrofit control panel (GORP). This state-of-the-art control and management system guarantees optimal system operation.

During the installation, the GEA Refrigeration Technologies team worked in a limited time frame, with only ten days left for all the work. GEA successfully completed the project in just five days and, as a result, Quorn® Foods was able to restart production without interrupting the system's workflow. The judges of the RAC Cooling Industry Awards praised GEA's strong commitment. The award ceremony was held online for pandemic reasons. “GEA has shown great foresight and found a cost-effective solution for the customer within a certain time frame thanks to its great expertise and decades of experience in refrigeration. In addition, GEA has also taken the opportunity to improve the flexibility of the system's operation and has achieved energy savings".

Scottish premium ice cream maker Mackie's was also impressed with the GEA solution

The jury of the RAC Cooling Industry Awards also praised GEA's project for Scottish premium ice cream maker Mackie's, giving GEA a "commendation" for the project. The project saw GEA replace the existing freezer at Mackie's Aberdeenshire facility with a design that uses an energy-efficient low-carbon and ammonia cooling system to work together with an absorption chiller. It was the first large-scale ice cream production facility in Scotland to combine biomass heat and absorption cooling. This innovative solution has helped Mackie's achieve his plan and ambitious goal of 90% CO2 reductions and 70 to 80% energy cost savings. The new refrigeration system is one of the most advanced in Europe. The "hydrochlorofluorocarbon" (HCFC) gases previously used in refrigeration systems, which have a high global warming potential, have been replaced by ammonia in the GEA solution. Ammonia is a natural and ecological refrigerant that has no impact on global warming or ozone depletion.