One of the leaders in commercial and industrial refrigeration system parts using compressors is a global company based in Italy called Dorin. They are a 100-year-old company and in 1999 took the lead in manufacturing compressors for refrigeration system parts using CO2 instead of HFC as the coolant.
This was not necessarily an easy transition but since 2004 Dorin has been the recognized leader in the use of CO2 compressors. The main reason for the use of CO2 versus HFC is the environmental benefits over the cost benefits. The United States,however, has been much slower than the rest of the world in converting over to CO2 from Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC).
In dealing with environmental issues there is a term known as Life Cycle Climate Performance (LCCP) and is simply a comparing measurement between technologies and their release of CO2 into the environment. It is based on the release of the refrigerants over time due to usage and leaks into a measurement of what is known as the Global Warming Potential (GWP). The use of CO2 is actually an extremely low GWP relative to the use of other refrigerants and is, therefore, the popular choice.
However, designing refrigeration system parts using CO2 compressors is actually a higher manufacturing cost. Part of this is the design due to the extremely high pressure required for refrigeration compared to the HFC systems. As such, the physical design of these compressors is much more complicated, resulting in higher costs.
Understanding these challenges even dating back to 1999 is something that Dorin in their commercial refrigeration system parts design decided to take on. In the end, it proved to be a highly successful venture. It also proved their commitment to the environmental integrity of the future of the planet.
This does not mean that Dorin does not offer compressors with the other types of refrigerants. Quite the contrary! They offer over 600 models of refrigeration system parts using compressors, with an emphasis on the CO2 type technology.
So if you are in the market for a solid and reputable company using the CO2 technology in refrigeration system parts compressors, you should at least make your first search to the Dorin Company.
