INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
PROJECT
The area for receiving cartons from the field has evaporative cooling . In this area , the pallets are made up and secured for transport and cooling in the rapid tunnel .
Operating parameters of the refrigeration plant are viewed on a monitor in the office of the packhouse manager . not only to save power but also to closely match the cooling capacity with the refrigeration load . The cooling load varies considerably between the time the tunnels are first loaded and when all the grapes have reached temperature . Not being able to match the load stably is often a major problem in plants of this type . However , CoolCheck , with many years ’ experience , has developed sophisticated control algorithms to ensure smooth running and a very close variation ( 0.3K ) in cooling air temperature . Due to the high ambient temperatures , the plant uses an evaporative type condenser .
Apart from the cooling tunnels , the refrigeration system also cools both a holding room to store the cooled pallets from the tunnels , and an airlock where incoming cartons are palletised .
Over a nearly 20-year period , the engineers at CoolCheck Consultants and Noord tot Suid Elektries en Verkoeling have become experts in the rapid cooling of fruits .
“ The racks at Berekisanang were the first of the new generation CoolCheck design and performed beyond expectations . The cooling rates with our second Orange River installation of new generation racks in November proved equally good , and we are extremely positive about meeting the demand for improved rates of cooling export fruit ,” adds Spangenberg .
Many table grape producers anticipate double-digit growth as South Africa enters new markets , particularly in the East .
Because of the high ambient temperatures , an evaporative condenser was selected .
COLD LINK AFRICA • March | April 2017 www . coldlinkafrica . co . za 45