
President Hyper Vaal - Vanderbijlpark
The President Hyper Vaal in Vanderbijlpark is one of the biggest projects undertaken by Matador Refrigeration in its 58-year history.
There were numerous challenges in all aspects of design, installation, electronic control and monitoring and the sheer enormity of the system.
It was, in our opinion, a very responsible decision by the owners, the Synodinos family, who opted for the R134a / CO 2 subcritical cascade refrigeration system to be their chosen solution for the refrigeration plant.

Main refrigeration plant showing CO 2 compressor racks on the low
Not only was this a step in the right direction for the environment, it also allowed for Matador to focus on energy saving which was paramount in our design.
With the use of special energy saving equipment and a few trade secrets implemented we achieved some interesting savings on energy consumption.
With a total system load of 1313.4
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Condensers for refrigeration system
We now had the challenge of reducing the running consumption dramatically. Ultimately this was achieved through some “different” engineering coupled with Variable Speed Drives installed on each of the 6
With the supply of the plant entrusted to the Cape Town based rack manufacturer Phoenix Racks, no expense was spared on energy saving equipment that included VSD’s, Soft Starters and the “Eco” range of Bock Compressors to achieve maximum energy savings.
After final commissioning and
The heat exchange equipment supplied by Heating Centre was also selected with energy savings in mind, ie air cooled condensers capable of operating the plant in very high ambient conditions without compromising the integrity of the maximum output capacity (when required).
A 1 500 litre hot water reclaim system was also installed to provide hot water via a plate heat exchanger and a heat pump for back-up in peak times.
This system supplies the entire back of house requirement.

1500 litre hot water tank
A special application in this project was to supply a biltong drying room capable of producing 3

Biltong produced on site in new biltong drier
This application was designed and installed by Matador Refrigeration and, according to the Butchery department manager, this is a huge success.
The electronic control system which manages each application in terms of temperature, defrosting, alarms and overall system operating functions
The electronic system is connected directly to the contracted security company and will alert the responsible person of any problems in after-hour periods.
A huge thank you to the wonderful team at President Hyper and especially to Basil and Nick for entrusting Matador with the refrigeration requirement and who, throughout the project, provided support and the drive to get it finished on time.
Congratulations to the entire Matador team, from management to pipe fitters and assistants, who provided a world class project that they can be proud of.

Bulk fruit and veg chiller room