Crop Systems have recently undertaken a major project for a large fresh produce supplier.

 

The project included updating existing cold storage facilities for over 1500 tonnes and design and installation of a ground-breaking 840 tonne warming store.

 

Cold Store:

 

In a brief to be as environmentally sensitive as possible, and with an eye on power consumption, the 1560 tonne cold storage facilities make use of the main structure of an existing building with upgraded insulation and installation of new equipment.

 

Variable speed main fans allow for optimisation of airflow to match the variable requirements that are ever present in potato stores. Roof fan units will assist the airflow through inverter control matched to the main fans.

An integrated air system optimised to take advantage of ambient air whenever available, using a predictive adiabatic cooling system with highly insulated air inlet doors in rubber sealed frames (just 2% air leakage can lead to 40% energy losses), utilises the age old industry method of air-mix with the advantage of modern leak-proof construction. In basic terms this means very cheap cooling.

The evaporator coil has deliberately been designed with large face and surface areas giving very low td’s off coil. Twin interlaced coil with opposing distribution giving highly accurate evaporating temperatures, moisture loss is therefore minimal.

Using electronic expansion valves on each interlaced coil section, the DX refrigeration system gives the fast response times required to accommodate the variable conditions of both long term and short term seasonal storage.

Low energy multiple-compressor condensing unit with electronic control match storage cooling requirements to energy usage perfectly.

New software enables the eco-defrost to use the off-cycle over the electric defrost system based on air off & coil sensor readings. Using off-cycle at low temperatures is not always effective and icing up of refrigeration coils during some periods of storage causes major problems. The new system will cycle the fans and any ice melted will be utilised as free cooling and improve humidity. The electric defrost will only come in as a last resort if the eco defrost cannot complete its cycle.

 

Future proof software and graphical touch screen for user-friendly data logging and viewing facilities. Co-ordinated equipment has been designed to be efficient without affecting produce integrity.