Cold Link Africa Mar/Apr 2017 | Page 44

PROJECT
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Cool pallets are dispatched from an airlock, which has temperature control. The Berekisanang farm was established as a greenfield project in harsh dry terrain.

New greenfield table grape farm on the Orange River

By John Ackermann

Taking advantage of the growing export demand for South African table grapes, a new farm, Berekisanang( meaning,‘ we all work together’ in Setswana), went on stream for the 2016 harvest.

Berekisanang has two 200ha sites, one for table grapes and the other for citrus fruit. Neither of the sites is in full production. For the 2016 harvest, the grapes were packed in the field at one of 180 packing stations and the cartons transported to the new cooling facility. Being packed in the vineyard adds to

the cooling load of the cooling tunnels, as generally( and in the future at this farm) the grapes are pre-cooled prior to packing. Even so, the new advanced cooling system was able to cool the grapes to a pulp temperature of 2 ° C within 16 hours in each of the four new cooling tunnels.
The refrigeration system designed by CoolCheck Consultants uses a novel cooling system where the airflow through the pallets is reversed for a period to ensure even cooling throughout the cartons.
The refrigeration system has a capacity of 250kW and is currently operating with R507A, but it is capable of being
retrofitted with a lower global warming potential( GWP) refrigerant in the future. This was an important consideration, said Wimpie Spangenberg, owner of the refrigeration installers Noord tot Suid Elektries en Verkoeling.
Each of the refrigeration compressors is fitted with a variable frequency drive,
The newly established orchard of citrus at Berekisanang.

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