Marine refrigeration system

A marine refrigeration system is a key element onboard any vessel. Food and drinks, cargo and garbage need to be kept in optimal conditions at all times. Well-maintained food and drinks are essential for passengers’ and crew’s health. And many cargo ships need to be equipped with high quality marine refrigeration and air conditioning as their core business is to assure the quality of the cargo during transport.

From garbage cooling to wine cellar

Heinen & Hopman has a great expertise in the engineering of marine refrigeration systems onboard any type of vessel; from the most luxurious superyachts to naval ships and offshore accommodation vessels. A few examples of our commonly supplied refrigeration systems are:

o    Garbage cooling

o    Provision cooling

o    Custom-built refrigerating rooms and cabinets

o    Morgue cooling

o    Seawater or freshwater cooled condensing units

o    Air-cooled condensing units

o    Fan coils in the cold rooms

o    Evaporators

Custom-built marine refrigeration

No vessel is the same and therefore Heinen & Hopman will always provide you with a custom-built solution to your specific needs. We work together with our clients in order to make the most suitable systems for the vessel. 

How a refrigeration system works

The refrigeration cycle consists of five components:

·         The refrigerant;
R22 is an often used refrigerant, but due to the European F-gas Regulation, we have been researching alternatives like R290 (Propane).

·         The compressor;
We use Turbocor compressors in our systems as these are exceptionally sustainable, totally oil-free and take up half the space of conventional compressors.

·         The condenser;
Our condensing units are either sea-water cooled, fresh-water cooled or air-cooled.

·         The evaporator;

·         The expansion device.

The refrigerant starts as a gas and is compressed in the compressor, which increases its temperature dramatically. Thereafter, the condenser cools the hot high pressure refrigerant and this way the refrigerant turns into a liquid. Next, the evaporator boils the refrigerant back to a gas, at a very low temperature. The change from liquid to gas absorbs the heat from the evaporator, which in turn removes the heat form the insulated refrigeration box, thereby lowering its temperature. Hereafter, the refrigerant is returned back to the compressor  and the refrigeration cycle starts again.