The units have been fitted to two Mercedes-Benz Antos rigids and are the first trucks with alternative refrigeration technology to join Tesco’s fleet.
“We are delighted to be one of the first customers trialling this new type of engineless refrigeration unit offering significant environmental benefits,” says Caroline Sindrey, engineering manager for Tesco.
“The new system offers huge potential to help us reduce our carbon footprint through lower emissions and diesel consumption, as well as decreasing air and noise pollution. We also hope it will reduce maintenance and fuel costs across our fleet of vehicles in the long term.”
The systems are driven by an Eco-Drive GenSet power unit, which is powered by a hydraulic pump connected to the truck’s engine power take-off. The hydraulic pump drives a generator that delivers electrical power to the refrigeration unit and provides a continual refrigeration capacity even at the truck’s standard idle speed.
With a PIEK-compliant noise level rating as standard, the units are suited to urban deliveries. With two refrigerating circuits fed by separate fully-hermetic scroll compressors, items such as drive belts, pulleys and compressor shaft seals are eliminated, which in turn optimises uptime and refrigerant containment.
This configuration – coupled to two economisers and a wide surface condenser – means the system provides a cooling capacity of up to 18,400W.