Cold Link Africa November/December 2018 | Page 4

NEWS INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN T New chillers for Banana Ripening Centre he Tshwane Fresh Produce Market recently installed Johnson Controls’ York YVWA chillers to ensure reliability and ease of control and to drive operational savings. The Tshwane Fresh Produce Market sells on average about R15-million in produce every day. Banana sales account for 11% of this figure. About 1.3 million kilograms of bananas are processed weekly by the state-of- the-art banana ripening facility at the market. This facility is responsible for the distribution of bananas to sales outlets nationally and in Africa. To drive this process reliably, the Centre selected Johnson Controls’ York YVWA chillers. Says Francois Knowles, deputy director: Commercial Services at the Centre: “The Banana Ripening Centre provides a critical service to farmers, acting as a staging facility and a platform for banana sales. Our highest priority is ensuring 24/7 uninterrupted service. Maintaining a constantly chilled environment to ensure staged ripening of the fruit is crucial. With growing volumes of produce moving through the market — turnover reached R3-billion in the 2016/17 financial year — this contributed to the need to upgrade our ageing banana cooling equipment.” THE RIPENING PROCESS The Banana Ripening Centre is performance driven. Acquired from the Banana Board in 1994 by the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, it contributes 11% of the total output of the Tshwane Market, playing an important role in the agricultural value chain. Explains Knowles: “We source bananas from across South Africa and Africa, reaching as far as Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The bananas arrive green, are palletised and stored in one of our 55 ripening chambers. Market agents at the market act on behalf of the farmers, securing sales from wholesalers and retailers. Collection and distribution of the bananas are synchronised with our six-day ripening process, ensuring the produce reaches its destination at the right level of ripeness for optimal retail sales.” COLD LINK AFRICA Content manager: Benjamin Brits [email protected] Editor: Ilana Koegelenberg [email protected] OPERATIONS Operations manager: Chantelle van Deventer [email protected] Process controller: Estelle Thurtle [email protected] Design/Layout: Glyniss Bone [email protected] Subeditor: Elaine Enslin [email protected] ADVERTISING SALES Director and sales: Dale Macnamara [email protected] External sales: Paul Engelbrecht [email protected] HEAD OFFICE Tel: + 27 (0) 11 579 4940 Fax: + 27 (0) 11 450 1920 PO Box 695, Edenvale, 1610 13A Riley Road, Bedfordview, 2008 Email: [email protected] The Banana Ripening Centre sources bananas from across South Africa and Africa, reaching as far as Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The ripening process relies on three factors: • Keeping the temperature at 13–14°C • Ensuring the correct airflow or circulation through the ripening chambers • Releasing ethylene gas at the right time to initiate the ripening process. Each ripening chamber can accommodate 30 pallets to be ripened. Sensors in the chambers constantly measure environmental temperature and communicate with the chillers, driving outputs to keep the chambers at the right temperature. A fan coil unit at the back of the facility circulates cool air through the chamber. The ripening process takes place over six days. THE CHILLERS Two York water-cooled screw-type YVWA chillers with variable speed drives (VSDs) were selected to replace the four chillers at the Centre that had reached end of life. “These chillers will help meet the Centre’s strategic goals of reliability and enhancing control of the environment to drive service excellence. The VSDs will also help lower energy costs, driving down operating costs,” notes Russell Hattingh, engineering manager at Johnson Controls Systems and Service. The use of VSDs on chiller compressors can cut energy use by up to 30% per annum while maintaining operating reliability over a wide range of conditions. “This is accomplished in two ways,” explains Hattingh. “At part load when cooling capacity can be reduced, a VSD chiller inherently uses less energy than a constant speed chiller, as the compressor speed can be reduced to more closely match the load. At low-lift conditions, when ambient temperature conditions are cooler than design, even greater energy savings can be realised if a VSD is employed.” The chillers were installed and commissioned in June 2017 by the Johnson Controls team. “The team was familiar with the Centre’s operational needs, having serviced its previous equipment, notes Hattingh, “So the implementation, which included a parallel upgrade to the Centre’s reticulation system, went smoothly. We are pleased to be able to continue providing support at the Centre.” FUTURE PERFECT “I believe our investment in the York chillers will help gear the Centre to maintain its high level of service into the future,” says Knowles. “The Centre is closely aligned with the University of Pretoria, providing a training ground for students, but it is also very focused in setting higher standards in terms of agricultural best practices. Excellence in control and automation at the facility is an important part of achieving that.” CLA FINANCE Financial/operations director: Sean Macnamara, CA (SA) [email protected] Financial manager: Laetitia Arnott [email protected] MANAGING DIRECTOR Richard Bicker Caarten PRINTER Typo Colour Printing Specialists [phone]/9 cnr Bezuidenhout & Beauford St, Troyeville, Johannesburg, 2094 DISTRIBUTION/MAILING CAB Holdings [phone] Trein Street, The Gables, Cleveland, 2001 DISCLAIMER Whilst every reasonable precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the advice and information given, neither the Editor, Publisher, Proprietor, Staff nor any official body represented or published in this issue, will accept responsibility for any damages, loss, injuries or false claims that may arise or be made in the content. Disclaimers by individual companies are hereby overridden. Reproduction of any of the content is expressly forbidden in terms of the Copyright Act of 1987 with all amendments. 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Controlled free distribution: 2902 ABC Jan - Jun 2018 OFFICIAL PUBLICATION At the ripening centre, the bananas arrive green, are palletised and stored in one of the 55 ripening chambers. 4 The Tshwane Fresh Produce Market recently installed two York water-cooled screw-type YVWA chillers with variable speed drives. www.coldlinkafrica.co.za COLD LINK AFRICA • November/December 2018