Food & Drink Processing & Packaging Issue 43 2022 | Page 16

EcoCooling Evaporative Cooling

Cool a 250m2 area for the same cost as boiling a kettle

With the rapid increase of energy costs , businesses are looking at reducing their electricity usage while maintaining comfortable and compliant conditions within their facilities . EcoCooling offers a cost-effective cooling solution for food storage and processing facilities . With blanket or spot cooling options available , evaporative cooling offers a flexible approach to process or people cooling that can be easily retrofitted to the majority of buildings .
CASE STUDY – PREMIER FOODS
Evaporative cooling is extremely beneficial in a bakery environment . The humidity levels keep the bread fresh and don ’ t dry it out , unlike traditional air conditioning which is extremely dry and can often shorten the lifecycle of fresh produce , so it is highly effective for bakery cooling .
Premier foods were looking for a costeffective bakery cooling strategy for their Barnsley site . Evaporative cooling can guarantee cool supply air of below 25 ° C all year round in the UK , making it the perfect solution for those wanting to reduce temperatures in their bakeries . 12 down discharge EcoCoolers were supplied and fitted to 12 existing Air Handling Units ( AHU ’ s ) on the roof of Manor Bakeries , Barnsley to provide cooling for the bakery . The existing refrigeration based cooling system has been decommissioned and the packaging area is now solely cooled using the EcoCooling Evaporative cooling system .
Following commissioning the system was tested and monitored , the following performance figures were recorded for the facility :
EXTERNAL AMBIENT = 23 ° C ( WARM SUNNY CLEAR DAY )
AIR TEMP OFF COOLER = 16.6 ° C 16 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk
AIR VOLUME THROUGH COOLER = 4.47M3 / S
PRESENT COOLING CAPACITY = 34KW PER COOLER
TOTAL SYSTEM CAPACITY = 12 COOLERS X 34KW = 408 KW
CASE STUDY - SUBWAY BEEHIVE CAMBRIDGE The Subway at the Beehive Shopping Centre in Cambridge was designated by the management as a test site to trial the provision of the most environmentally friendly retail site possible .
EcoCooling was invited to look at the cooling of the unit .
Subway stores bake bread three to four times each day so the EcoCooling system was designed to capture the surplus heat generated by both the ovens and the walk-in fridges to provide heating for the whole shop and not just specific hot spots . This was done by redirecting the hot air into the shop to provide heating in the winter months . Evaporative cooling is then used to cool the store during the summer when the hot air from the ovens is extracted to the outside of the building .
The Beehive site is now using 75 % less power than the equivalent site and is being held up as a flagship example of green technology for the whole of the Subway chain . The Cambridge franchisee installed power usage monitors at both this site and a similar site .
Please contact us on 01284 810586 / sales @ ecocooling . co . uk or visit our web site : www . ecocooling . co . uk
Food Packing Facility
External EcoCooler
Bakery
Typical installation options