BRAZIL – The São Paulo Aquarium has welcomed two polar bears, Aurora and Peregrino in a 3000 m2 polar environment which is chilled using technology supplied by the company Danfoss.
The new polar environment forms an integral part of a new expansion plan covering a total area of 15,000 m2 which will accommodate animals from all over the world, including marine, river and wildlife animals.

The two polar bears have been uprooted from their home in Russia, and they are now living in a 3,000 square meter area which has been carefully designed to replicate their original habitat. The facilities for the polar bears include a one-million-litre lagoon, three waterfalls and a cave.

“This is definitely a unique project for us in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. In order to keep the bears in a safe zone, it was necessary to provide them with an ideal area both in terms of dimensions and their natural environment. The place should be the perfect combination of low-temperature dry areas and lakes,” stated Eládio Pereira, Sales Manager for Danfoss in Brazil.

Based on these safety and temperature demands, the Aquarium came up with a solution consisting of several independent refrigeration circuits, supported by back-up equipment in the event of possible system failures. In order to make the polar bears feel at home, the ambient temperature must remain between minus 5ºC and 18ºC.

The Aquarium is keeping a close eye on the temperature for the polar environment by having Danfoss install 15 condensing units with microchannel heat exchangers.

“Danfoss is a synonym for reliability. That is why I always select Danfoss products in my projects,” opined Antonio Marcelino de Almeida, a Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Consultant employed by the São Paulo Aquarium for the polar project.

After installation, the Aquarium, with the help of Eládio Pereira, tested and adjusted the units in order to verify that the running conditions matched the demands of the legal entities concerned. After this verification process, the new habitat was approved and the Aquarium got the go ahead to import the polar bears from Russia before the Aquarium was officially opened on the 17th of April