Glasgow, Scotland: Aqua has saved a UK tropical fruit processor many pounds by re-using an old stand alone cold store. The processor was looking to store 200,000 individual fruits, all year round, which would be processed and distributed as snack packs or prepared fruit products for private brands.
Old age of the stand-alone cold stores on site meant there was no way they could keep such a high volume of product cool enough. However, if they could be repurposed, it would save considerable investment in finding a new site
Aqua’s rental team carried out a site survey and looked at different ways they could create a large cold storage space, at a consistent 3°C. After careful consideration, and running lots of calculations, the team determined that reconfiguring the old cold stores was a viable option.
“200,000 is a lot of fruit!” said Aqua’s sales engineer, Ben Hughes. “Probably the most stressful part of this job was making sure my calculations were spot on. As well as the obvious things like heat loss, external heat load and ambient, I had to work out the hourly respiration rate of 200,000 pieces of different fruits. I checked that one several times before specifying the cooling equipment needed for a storage space which has ended up bigger than a full sized football pitch!”
Aqua supplied two 340kW Aqua Pro chillers and six 70kW low temperature fan coils on a long term rental agreement.” Our Aqua Pro units operate on low GWP, so are highly efficient as well as being a positive choice for the environment, ” Hughes said.
The equipment was designed and installed with an open tank system. The fan coils were sited internally, and the two chillers were positioned outside the building. Adding an open tank to the design reduces the reaction times, between the temperature coming back from the fan coil and back to the chiller, giving greater system volume and eliminating any risk of temperature spikes, he said.
Results
With the new cold storage facility in place, the fruit now arrive on refrigerated transport, before being taken off onto racking within the cold store. Once processed, the final product is stored in boxes on pallets before being distributed to the network.
“From the client’s perspective, they now have consistent storage, at the optimum temperature, which protects product quality and, therefore, their business. They also have less wastage and peace of mind, all without the need to invest in a new facility and protecting their CapEx,” Hughes said.
