A new Michael’s SUPA IGA store in Keysborough, Victoria, Australia, boasts two state-of-the-art CO2 transcritical racks that feed 90 refrigeration points as well as a two-metric-ton ice flaker.
In addition to refrigeration the fully integrated system includes space heating, domestic hot water and cooling.
Work on the 3,500m2 (37,673.7ft2) store started in July of last year and was completed on November 22, 2019, according to Quintan Naude, Project Manager at MB Refrigeration (part of the MB Group), which handled the design and installation of the refrigeration system.
The store includes sections for meat, fish, sushi, dairy, liquor and frozen retail stock – among others. It also has a custom-designed aging room for the butchery area and a decorative glass wall entering into the liquor cold room.
The retailer specified natural refrigerants, according to Naude. “They invested in the future of the planet by promoting a lower carbon footprint.”
According to Naude, the size of the store made it difficult to coordinate all the elements. “The most difficult obstacle was our piping route that clashed with mechanical ducting and underground services,” he explained. “This was resolved by good communication skills with relevant parties on site by means of detailed drawings and landscape surveyors.”
The system includes two refrigeration racks, manufactured by South African OEM Sphere. The capacities of the two systems are as follows:
- Low temperature: 19.86kW (95.65TR) at -33°C (-27°F) and 20.68kW (5.89TR) at -26°C (-14.8°F)
- Medium temperature capacity: 85.39kW (24.28TR) at -8°C (18°F)and 78.48kW (22.32TR) at -6°C (21°F)
According to Naude, the retailer is very satisfied with the final product and commented that it is looking forward to doing more future business with MB Group (which has worked on a number of IGA installations). “Our decision to use MB for this project was certainly the right one! Been a great journey with the team on this project with more to come,” said Domenic D’Agostino, Operations Manager at Michaels/Fairleys Supa IGA Stores in a comment to a post by Naude on LinkedIn.
