After months of hard work from the teams at PRO Refrigeration and San Joaquin Valley Dairy Equipment, South Creek Dairy is now producing milk with the climate in mind. The project culminated with the commissioning of another PROGreen Solutions 100 HP Chiller System that eliminates harmful chemical-based refrigerant, replacing it with a natural CO2-based solution without any harmful impact to the climate.

“Field commissioning always starts off with a group training session, even with many of the same technicians previously involved in the first CO2 project. The group training allowed everyone the chance to get their questions answered and set the stage for a smooth commissioning this week,” commented Damon Reed, leader of the PROGreen Solutions team.

South Creek Dairy’s owner, Christopher Jongsma, with his grandfather John, traveled to PRO’s production facility in Mocksville, North Carolina, back in July. Damon introduced them to transcritical and subcritical CO2 (R744) refrigeration and provided hands-on equipment training that included CO2 safety training. Chris also made several visits to his uncle Bill’s farm, where the first PROGreen System was installed in Pixley, California, last August.

“Damon and I talked about the value of the training sessions (in North Carolina) many times this week,” added Chris Jongsma. “To be involved as an owner and have an understanding of how the system operates and the fine-tuning, it has been a great experience.”

The first phase of the installation included switching from their old chiller system to the new R744-based system. They closed out the first three milking sessions, with over 3,900 cows milked per session, with final milk temperatures of 37.5 F (3 C).

The second phase included setting up the PROHeat2o Onboard Heat Recovery System. The teams worked together on an updated hot water piping strategy and are excited to share that they are now heating water to 170 F (77 C) without using any propane or natural gas!

“We owe a big thanks to both the Jongsma Family and the team at San Joaquin Valley Dairy Equipment for stepping up and partnering on these initial projects,” provided Jim VanderGiessen, PRO CEO. “They are helping us prove that CO2, or R744, is a real solution that dairy producers need to consider today.”

Ben Anders, installation manager for SJVDE, stated: “The installation and startup of this chiller system went very smooth this week. Really, there were no major obstacles to overcome, and overall, this week has gone extremely well.”

All indications are that the dairy producers also see the value. After Ben’s team completes the South Creek Project, they will shift their focus towards two more scheduled PROGreen projects in the San Joaquin Valley region.

Visit PROChiller to learn more about PRO. Visit ProChiller/PROGreen for more information on their shift to natural refrigerants.