COOLERS AND CONDENSERS
A chilling answer to trouble in store
If a distribution centre’s cold/chilled store breaks down, the business will face significant problems, from damaged stock to lost customers and revenue. A lack of cold storage capacity can also limit business growth. However, there is a relatively painless way to solve both these issues, allowing business continuity and growth without capital expenditure. Chris Smith, head of temperature control for Aggreko, explains.
D
isasters always happen to someone else, or so distribution centre operators often seem to believe – until, that is, the moment their cold/chilled store fails or there is a sudden spike in demand, but too little capacity to meet it.
Every distribution centre faces these threats and they can be catastrophic for both the company and its employees, in some circumstances even driving the operation out of business. In short, cold/chilled stores are mission critical. That’s why it pays to think about the unthinkable: you could be next.
How to avert a cooling crisis
This begs a fundamental question: what can be done to prevent a major incident from disrupting your business? The simple answer is to understand your options in advance so you can recover that much quicker and you don’t have to learn how to handle the problem during the crisis itself.
Spend time with your refrigeration contractor or a rental company like Aggreko to walk your site and talk through the options – there may be more than you think! We often recommend customers to put in place a formal contingency plan –a plan that lays out the technical requirements, equipment, logistics and contractors needed should an emergency occur.
32 March 2017
Rental cooling and chilling equipment is one way to keep your refrigerated warehouse operating after an equipment failure, or when plant needs to go offline for a maintenance overhaul.
Companies like my own can supply equipment that will match the kilowatt duty being taken off-line. We have specialist chillers that can reach temperatures as low as -45°C to ensure that the refrigerated stock – typically food or pharmaceuticals – remains within the required temperature boundaries.
We move special low temperature air handling units into the cold store, running temporary hoses and pipework from the chillers to supply the required cooling for as long as it’s needed.
These air handlers have an automatic defrost mechanism making them ideal for very low temperature applications. This is a typical standalone system that runs independently of the customer’s own plant. However, we can also tie into a site’s glycol system with our range of chillers, again reaching temperatures down to -45°C.
It typically takes a couple of hours from emergency call- out to site visit. We then perform the technical site survey and specify the most appropriate solution as quickly as possible, installing the temporary equipment and getting it up and running, usually within two to three days.
www.acr-news.com
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