Frostcruise, which has been several years in development with BOC and parent Linde, is a liquid nitrogen-based alternative to diesel-powered mechanical refrigeration – and 13 of the units are now being trialled in the Marks & Spencer fleet.
Benefits include zero carbon (at the point of use), zero particulate and NOx emissions and near silent operation (56dB).
Insulated tanks of liquid nitrogen indirectly chill internal compartments via a heat exchanger and a bank of automatically controlled fans, delivering extremely fast cool-down and ensuring accurate temperature control.
BOC claims that a typical trailer cools from ambient to 2°C within eight minutes, so the system easily maintains temperature on multi-drop delivery duties – regardless of engine operation .
As for the LNG refueller, BOC says it is aimed at medium sized fleets, supplying up to 30 vehicles from relatively simple, easily installed packaged plant.
It incorporates BOC's zero-loss technology, which includes a liquid nitrogen-based temperature conditioning system which also recovers 'warm' vent gases from the vehicle.
BOC says the new system incorporates mass flow metering, and works with operators' existing fuel management systems to monitor fleet usage and trip data.