- By:
- Chen, Yimin ; Fricke, Brian A; Sharma, Vishaldeep ; Hu, Yifeng
- Book Title:
- 21st International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference at Purdue
- Publication Date:
- August 21, 2026
- Conference Name:
- 9th International High Performance Buildings Conference at Purdue
- Conference Location:
- West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America
- Conference Sponsor:
- Purdue University
Abstract
Refrigeration systems are the single largest consumer of electricity in supermarkets, accounting for approximately 40–60% of total store electricity use. As supermarkets face increasing pressures to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs, understanding the energy performance of refrigeration systems in supermarkets has become essential. In this paper, we investigate the energy performance and patterns of the refrigeration system using field measurements in one supermarket. The compressor coefficient of performance (COP) averaged 4.5 during nighttime steady-state operation, providing a practical efficiency benchmark. We develop simple physical-based load models for the display cases in the supermarket, where the refrigeration system uses R404A. The results show the display case models achieve a good agreement with measured data, validating its utility for energy estimation during unoccupied hours. Finally, the analysis reveals several challenges of data collection systems for refrigeration systems in the supermarket industry as well.
