PROJECT
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
From left: Ntlai Mosiah, Dr Bridgette Gasa, and Phumzile Phike attending the event.
All work was directly contracted, with
Rautenbach and Liebenberg as the project
managers on site daily. Reed Sampson,
a Durban-based construction company
with many years of experience in cold
store construction, was appointed as
the building contractor. MRE, who had
impressed Rautenbach with their service
as a refrigeration contractor while he was
at CCS, was appointed to design and
install the refrigeration plant. The only
requirements were that the plant had to be
ammonia and able to meet the required
cooling duty.
The store has three large chambers,
each able to operate at -25°C or as
a chill room, and has a dehumidified
temperature-controlled air lock. “Our focus
will be on the handling of poultry and meat
imports/exports, for example deboned
meat, and fruit concentrate, such as
grapefruit in bags or citrus in 210ℓ drums,”
explains Rautenbach. The racking in one of
the stores has been designed specifically
to carry the drums and the refrigeration
system is able to act almost as a blast
freezer to cool the drums rapidly if needed.
“Our facility is also suitable for handling
fruit and stowing into marine containers,
in particular avocados and soft skin citrus,
which do not require large volumes of
ambient vehicles and containers in the
yard at any particular time.”
Energy usage, temperature management,
food safety, and environmental impact
were all considered in the design and
construction of iCS. Being close to the
humid KwaZulu-Natal coastline, special
attention was given to corrosion protection.
Product is received and dispatched
from docking bays fitted with Stab-a-Load
insulated docking seals, docking levelers,
and vertical roll-up doors.
The airlock between loading bays
and cold rooms is maintained at an air
temperature of 5°C. The entrance to each
cold room has a high-speed vertical door.
The battery-operated Linde forklifts
have the latest in batteries, which can be
recharged in four hours and do not have
any gas emissions or maintenance. Not
having to rotate batteries cuts back on
labour and damage to equipment and it
prevents injuries.
Government departments and development agencies collaborated
in establishing the iDube Cold Store.
The five dispatch and receiving bays have vertical sliding doors.
STABILISED FOUNDATION
At the start of the groundwork, 430 piles
were driv en in to stabilise the ground,
which had previously been loosely filled
and was marshy.
“After contacting Kingspan in Ireland, we
opted for their insulated panels because of
the high thermal efficiency and excellent
fire rating,” said Rautenbach. With the fire
rating of the Kingspan panel it would not
require a sprinkler system to meet the local
fire regulations. “After considering various
options, we selected the Spanish Matrix
Mobile racking system, because of their
specific safety features and operational
benefits. After-sales service was also a
prime consideration and we are confident
that it will be well provided by APC, who
installed all the racking and mobiles.”
Back row, from left: Gary Liebenberg, Sandile Zulu, and Hoffie Rautenbach. Front row, from left: Vincent Mathamba,
Public Somerayi, and Nhlanhla Ndawonde.
COLD LINK AFRICA • November | December 2017
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
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