Carrier Refrigeration

11 Drilled from ancient depths of polar ice sheets, ice cores can provide stratified records of atmospheric change over the past 1 million years. The NaturaLINE unit employed by GNS Science ensures that ice core archives will be preserved in the event of an extended power outage to the research facility's main freezer. Shown, left to right: Chris Wilkinson, co-owner, Reefertech Ltd.; Brett Gilles, property manager, GNS Science; Paul Gray, field service manager, Carrier Transicold; and from GNS Science, Russell Campbell, electrician; Nancy Bertler, research leader; and Rebecca Pyne, facility coordinator and senior technician. NaturaLINE ® Unit | ContainerLINE May 2019 the planet's future, some refer to them as "white gold." Therefore, continuous robust protection by deep freezing is essential when bringing them to a warmer climate for analysis. Enter the NaturaLINE unit. The NaturaLINE-refrigerated container was acquired by RICE last year to serve as an emergency backup freezer for approximately 2,000 meters of ice cores kept in the main freezer building. The critical need for such a system was demonstrated in 2016, when the magnitude 7.8 Kaikoura earthquake caused a power outage lasting several days. Although GNS Science has backup generators, it was determined they would not be sufficient to handle the entire needs of the facility over a sustained period, which could recur given the presence of numerous active faults in New Zealand. In the event of another power outage emergency, ice cores packed in insulated storage chests can be quickly moved from the GNS Science main freezer into the 40-foot container, where the energy-efficient NaturaLINE unit that is powered by the facility generators will protect them until full power is restored and the main freezer can be operated again. Part of the appeal of the NaturaLINE unit is its ability to operate at -40 C, which is actually colder than the annual average coastal air temperature of Antarctica where the ice cores were originally drilled. The more frigid temperatures inside the container were desired to provide a higher margin of protection and support the long-term integrity of the cores, according to Pyne. "We are pleased that the NaturaLINE unit, with its environmentally sustainable refrigerant and deep-frozen capability, could play a key role in protecting ice cores for a research initiative focused on protecting our planet," said Paul Gray, Carrier Transicold's field service manager based in New Zealand. "It's a natural complement to this important application." Reducing Global Warming For scientists studying climate change and the impact of global warming, the NaturaLINE unit also offered the ideal refrigerant. CO2 refrigerant, also known as R-744, has a global warming potential (GWP) of 1, the lowest by far of any refrigerant used in container systems today. Synthetic refrigerants used in other container systems have GWPs that range from over 600 to nearly 4,000. Choosing a system that used the significantly lower GWP refrigerant was, according to Pyne, "really important and the critical difference." The NaturaLINE unit is routinely operated and maintained to assure its state of readiness in the event of a power emergency. Carrier Transicold's authorized service provider in Wellington, Reefertech Ltd., checks it quarterly, and GNS Science plans annual reviews of its emergency protocols and practice scenarios, assuring that its people, like the NaturaLINE unit, are ready at a moment's notice. w

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