ReChill Systems · speculative install sketch

Hilmar Cheese Company

Hilmar, CA · plus Dalhart TX + Dodge City KS expansion · 12-family owner block · one of the largest cheese plants in the world

DOC. RC-SKETCH-006

2026-05-28

T. ELLSWORTH

JUST WONDERING

Hilmar's a process chilling story, not a frozen storage story. The variable-speed ReChill advantage hits hardest in process chilling because the load swings constantly with production tempo. New CEO in seat — open window for strategic refresh.

Installed Load

~3000 TR

R-717 (NH₃) · plant-wide process chilling

kW / TR Delta

2.4 → 1.5

part-load matched

Annual Saving (est.)

$4.4M

5.7 yr simple payback

PSM Exposure

PSM heavy

regulated charge

What the parts list looks like

chill rooms + cold storage zones

30 × ReChill C40

2550 TR · $12.3M

process chilling concentration

4 × ReChill Plaid

2184 TR · $12.8M

combined capacity

variable-speed

4734 TR installed

BACK-OF-NAPKIN TOTAL

$25.1M

The math (one slide)

installed thermal load (est.)3000 TR

current refrigerant + chargeR-717 (NH₃) · plant-wide process chilling · 45,000 lb

current annual electric (est.)$8.8M/yr

ReChill annual electric (est.)$4.4M/yr

ELECTRIC DELTA · 5.7 yr simple payback~$4.4M/yr

How to read this · TR, kW/TR, and the math

TRTon of Refrigeration

12,000 BTU/hr of cooling capacity. The unit US industrial refrigeration thinks in. Named for the rate one ton of ice absorbs heat as it melts. 1 TR ≈ 3.5 kW of heat removed. A walk-in cooler is ~5 TR; a small blast tunnel is ~50 TR; a big NH₃ plant is hundreds of TR.

kW/TRelectrical efficiency

Electrical power IN per ton of cooling OUT. Lower is better (like fuel economy, but inverted). Old NH₃ plant field rule: 2.5. ReChill variable-speed target: 1.5. That ratio is the whole savings story in two numbers.

The equation · this facility · transparent

Annual electric ($/yr) = installed TR × kW/TR × hours/yr × $/kWh

AS-IS 3000 TR × 2.4 × 8,760 hr × $0.14/kWh = $8.8M/yr

TO-BE 3000 TR × 1.5 × 8,760 hr × $0.112/kWh (with 35% off-peak) = $4.4M/yr

DELTA $4.4M/yr · fleet capex $25.1M · simple payback 5.7 yr

Hilmar Cheese · the angle

Be the first dairy operator to publish a CO₂ process chilling case study. The 12 founding families have a 40-year cooperative refrigeration story. Add one more chapter.

Be brutal with my numbers

Process chilling at cheese-plant scale has not been built on transcritical CO₂ at this size in North America. The engineering would be real and the timeline longer than the frozen-storage case. But the energy story is bigger and the regulatory exit is cleaner. · Decision-maker on file: Greg Schlafer · President & CEO (since July 2025) (newly seated — strategic-shift opening · time-bounded).