HVAC systems used in supermarkets and food retailers. In this article, we take a look at the different HVACR systems used in supermarkets and retail outlets to understand the basics of how they work.
In many large supermarkets you will see the ductwork for this hanging from the ceiling. The ducts come from the air handling units or from the ceiling units. Both play a very similar role, although overhead units are more common in supermarkets simply because they are an all-in-one HVAC solution. As the name suggests, roof units are located on the roof of the supermarket and you will usually find several units depending on the size of the store.
Inside the unit is a large fan that draws cool air into the unit and also pushes it into the building. Some units will use this thrust force to also expel dirty used air from the building.
The air passes through a filter to remove dust and dirt, then passes through a heat exchanger where it will be heated or cooled to meet the required conditions.
For heating, the roof unit uses an electric resistance, a gas burner or a heat pump.
For cooling, the unit will use either a split air conditioning unit or a heat pump.
The other unit we mentioned was the air handler. It works in a very similar way although these are usually much larger and are usually housed indoors. These units also filter, heat, cool and humidify the air, although heating and cooling are provided by a remotely connected chiller or boiler. There will usually also be an exhaust air handling unit to maintain pressure in the building and remove stale air. If the return air is within certain CO2, humidity, and temperature limits, some of it can be recirculated to reduce the heating or cooling load.
If you look at the ceiling of big box stores, you may see a large box connected to a short set of conduit. This box is called a fan coil.
Inside the fan coil there is a fan with a small motor, a filter, and also one or two heat exchangers. The fan coil simply circulates air locally in the building and supplements local area heating or cooling as needed. It will also help bring fresh air into the building.
The fan coil can provide heating and/or cooling and the heat exchangers will be connected to a heat pump, VRF, split AC, chiller or boiler.
We covered air handling units in our previous article, see it HERE.
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