Sr . Juan Yazbek – Agroideas - Ecuador :
With vacuum pre-cooling , the best quality at destination is achieved
Sea transport for cut flowers continues to grow year after year . In the Flormarket Global 99 edition , the editorial staff paid special attention to this issue , nurtured by the data on flower exports from Colombia and the role of the port of Cartagena de Indias in this context . Likewise , in Ecuador this transport also gains in importance . For more than a dozen years this subject has been a topic . The pioneer in this matter may have been the Roman Emperor Nero , who imported roses from Egypt , several years before the Christian era .
Pre-cooling
Technological advances made it possible to reach a high level of professionalism maritime transport of cut flowers . One of the most interesting techniques to preserve product quality is the application of vacuum pre-cooling . Vacuum cooling technology has been used for many decades in vegetables . Possibly the Dutch used this technology for the first time exporting lettuce . The concentration of produce in cooperative auctions facilitated this development . The technique is based on the principle that water evaporates at lower temperatures , decreasing the pressure . Due to the evaporation that the product presents , the energy ( heat ) is extracted from it . In general less than 3 % of the water is lost . This can be avoided , using a hydro vacuum ease in installation . As a result , the products can be cooled to
u Proceso refrigeración por vacio
u Process vacuum cooling
El agua hierve
Tiempo en minutos
1 or 2 ° C ( 34 - 36 ° F ) in a time period of 20 to 30 minutes . The cold is generated in the entire container at the same time . With the low temperature , the respiration and the ethylene production of the product logically decrease considerably .
Agua condensada
El proceso de refrigeration se inicia
Temperatura del producto
Aire
Cierre del vacio
Descarga del aire y cierre del ciclo
Tanque de condensación del agua vaporizada
Bomba de vacio ø
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