The Natural Refrigeration Review is a quarterly publication that contains technical articles, regulatory and code updates, industry news and information about IIAR activities and publications. It is distributed by email to all IIAR Members and IIAR Contact lists.
SPRING 2026 NATURAL REFRIGERATION REVIEW
The Natural Refrigeration Review issues are available as a PDF downloads for both lIAR Members and Non-members, or as individual article posts below. Click the button below to view the full issue, or scroll through all the individual issue articles below.
2024 Tech Paper: Falling Film Chiller and Heat Pump Integration: An Energy-efficient Method for Producing Cold and Hot Water in a Dairy Plant
Decarbonization is a crucial process in the effort to mitigate the effects of climate change. Considering this aim, efficient energy utilization is also imperative for sustainable and cost-effective operations in dairy plants. In general, the refrigeration system rejects heat to the atmosphere on...
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2024 Tech Paper: Carrots to Sticks – Carbon Tracking for Cold Storage
This paper provides an overview on the basics of carbon counting and how they may apply to carbon counting within the cold storage industry. It will also cover opportunities to take advantage of newer technologies available to improve the accuracy of carbon reporting data, and the ability to gene...
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2024 Tech Paper: Correlation Between Evaporator Suction Pipe Size and Hot Gas Flow Rate for the Prevention of Hydraulic Shock in Ammonia Refrigeration Systems
Chidambaram Narayanan, External Consultant Joel-Steven Singh, Senior Engineer AFRY Switzerland AG
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2023 Tech Paper: Cybersecurity in Automated Industrial Systems
The rise of automation brings new cybersecurity threats to heavy industries. Cybersecurity attacks like ransomware, malware, and phishing are becoming commonplace and more sophisticated as they continuously evolve and change. This paper reviews the risks and tactics of the most common classes of ...
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2023 Tech Paper: Performance Analysis of CO2 Heat Pump Modes for Refrigeration Systems: A Case Study
Transcritical CO2 heat pumps are emerging as a viable alternative to synthetic air- or water-source heat pumps, and they present an opportunity for electrification while eliminating the need for refrigerants with high global warming potential. The purpose of this technical paper is to assess the ...
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2023 Tech Paper: The Cost of Non-Compliance: An Objective Analysis of Federal EPA’s Enforcement at Ammonia Refrigeration Facilities
This paper presents an objective analysis of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) enforcement of ammonia refrigeration facilities across America conducted using hundreds of publicly available independent inspection reports dating from 2006 through 2021...
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2023 Tech Paper: Carbon-Dioxide System Relief Sizing
Generally, safety standards for refrigeration systems require the placement of at least one overpressureprotection device on all carbon-dioxide (R-744) systems as well as on vessels manufactured in accordance with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Secti...
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2023 Tech Paper: Ammonia Central-stage DX System: Firsthand Experience
The dominant topics for industrial refrigeration facilities have been climate change and rising energy costs in recent years. A new generation of environmental activists worldwide has pushed this agenda forward to the point where politicians have started to alter their countries’ energy policies....
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2022 Tech Paper: CFD-based Design Basis for Avoidance of Hydraulic Shock in Ammonia Pipework Systems
Incidents of ammonia releases due to hydraulic shock in the refrigeration pipework have been reported in the past and could occur in the future. Such shock events carry significant commercial risks and are a concern for the health and safety of humans. Two locations where hydraulic shock occurs f...
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2022 Tech Paper: Proper Installation and Maintenance Practices for Variable Frequency Drives
The use of a variable frequency drive (VFD) to control the speed of an AC induction motor has numerous benefits, including energy savings, improved reliability, reduced equipment wear and tear, and more precise control of motor speed.
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2022 Tech Paper: Managing Your Energy Costs: It Can Be Done!
All too often, energy management projects with good potential will fail for any number of reasons. Most of these failures will be a result of the project not addressing key requirements for success, or not meeting the expectations of all users throughout the organization. This report is intended ...
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2022 Tech Paper: Benefit of Ammonia Heat Pump Implementation in the Industry and for District Heating
Over the last 15 years the market for high-temperature ammonia heat pumps has been growing in Europe and now it is also taking off in North America. That period in Europe has yielded many lessons as higher pressure and temperature present new challenges in refrigerant design. This paper explains ...
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2022 Tech Paper: Absorption Applications for Residential-Light Commercial Space Conditioning and Water Heating
Absorption cycles using the ammonia-water refrigerant pair have a long track record of commercial applications ranging from industrial-size cooling using waste heat as the energy source, to gas-fired residential air-conditioners and small refrigerators for recreational vehicles using propane fuel...
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2022 Tech Paper: Transcritical CO2 Compressors: Technical Challenges in Industrial Refrigeration Application
Carbon dioxide (CO2) has today become the standard refrigerant of choice for many applications, often enabling better coefficient of performance (COP) than the previously adopted technologies based on other refrigerants. This trend is progressively leading to both a lower usage of high global war...
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2022 Tech Paper: Simple Equations for Determining Mass Flow in Refrigeration Systems
The goal of any industrial refrigeration system is to remove heat. Therefore, the total heat load is the design engineer’s first calculation, which is then used to size and select the evaporators. Unfortunately, this heat load is often also applied to the sizing of other components in the system,...
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2022 Tech Paper: Don’t Curse the Purger
The goal of operators, contractors, and design engineers is to operate a closed loop refrigeration system as close to design intent as possible. The owner wants maximum value from the equipment and personnel employed at the facility. The presence of gases that do not liquify within the operating ...
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2022 Tech Paper: Liquid Overfeed Ammonia Refrigerating Plant and Energy Efficiency
The global HFC phase-down and the proposed restrictions on PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) have accelerated the transition towards natural refrigerants. The requirements of the Paris Agreement, the European CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) initiative, and ESG (Environmen...
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2022 Tech Paper: Machinery Room Ventilation and Ammonia Release Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Study
The ammonia refrigeration industry has a historically good safety record and hence there have been few instances of ammonia release resulting in ignition events. To continue and improve upon safe practice, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was undertaken...
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2021 Tech Paper: CFD Analysis of Pipework Fracture due to Hydraulic Shock in an Ammonia Refrigeration System
The condensation induced hydraulic shock (CIHS) phenomena is a primary safety concern in low temperature ammonia systems. When transient pressure amplitudes become exceedingly high, pipe rupture can occur. Of particular interest to the ammonia industry is the development of a computational fluid ...
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2021 Tech Paper: RAGAGEP: Historical Variants and the Importance of IIAR Standards
Recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices (RAGAGEP) are written documents intended for use in the design, installation, operation, and maintenance of process equipment. There has been a movement in the ammonia refrigeration industry towards standardization...
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