HVAC
A STICKY SITUATION
Sugar is a sticky business, especially when it comes into close
contact with your air conditioning units, where layer upon layer, microfine granules combine with moisture:
solidifying on the coils; Andy Harvey of Advanced Engineering explains.
“THE STICKY
PASTE STEADILY REDUCES AIRFLOW.“
When sugar, as well as chocolate and flour, are airborne, they can wreak havoc with equipment – especially in food and drink manufacturing, where refrigeration and air cooling are an absolute necessity for operations.
Preventing this problem – or even just dealing with an existing one – requires understanding of the root of the problem: the sugar itself.
WHY IS SUGAR STICKY? Simple monomeric sugars have a molecular formula of
C6H12O6. These are called monosaccharides. They are very soluble because of the large number of hydrogen atoms that bond to the surface area. Glucose is an example of these monomeric sugars.
When they accumulate on a coil, they visually grow bigger and denser. If they are repeatedly heated on the coil, they become caramelised into larger polymeric units – with up to 125 carbon lengths (caramelin) in some cases.
This sticky paste, in turn, steadily reduces airflow to a point where, to continue, the only option available for contractors is to decommission the affected units and perform their routine clean and maintenance program.
In an industry heavily reliant on refrigeration and air- cooling equipment to stay productive, this can create a real problem. This is magnified when sticky sugar is so stubborn that there isn’t a product available on the market that is chemically-persuasive enough to remove it quickly and efficiently.
CASE STUDY:
CHOCOLATE FACTORY This was the problem facing a contractor working with a world-renowned luxury chocolatier in Derby. Facing sugar built up over a number of years, he tried a number of coil cleaning products with no success.
In the chocolate factory’s production area, its eight air- handling units had been exposed to airborne sugar over an extended period of time.
36 | TOMORROW’S FM
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