www.heatingandventilating.net F
ounded in 1965, Craigavon-based, Avondale Foods is an innovative, award-winning fresh food manufacturer. The business supplies
Ireland and the UK’s multiple retailers with a wide range of fresh products including salads, vegetable accompaniments as well as soups, sauces and noodles which are stocked in leading supermarkets across the UK. When faced with the prospect of replacing an aged chiller and the financial outlay required, Avondale took a pragmatic approach and saw an opportunity to incorporate the advantages of modern technologies to boost efficiencies and drive down its carbon emissions. The business was also keen to maximise its investment, by future-proofing as much as possible and designing in spare capacity to be able to meet further increases in demand for its products whilst boosting its green credentials. With a 24/7 business operation, any disruption had to be minimised. There were also logistical hurdles to overcome. The company’s chillers run 70-80% capacity, but these are switched off when they are not required, so timing was key. Avondale worked closely with Aermec’s NI distributor, Powertech Refrigeration and Falkonair UK, to provide a chiller solution that offered scope for increased capacities, delivered lower running costs, lower noise levels, an attractive ROI but also the capacity to react to changes in product loads and quickly. Aermec’s NRB0800Y high efficiency air-cooled
chiller was selected to replace its aged chiller. The site presented a number of logistical challenges; the chiller had to be craned into position and was located on custom-built steel frames. The installation and commissioning also had to take place at specific times in the evening to avoid any disruption to production. All the pipework and connections were carried out in advance. But the whole project went smoothly. The new air-cooled chiller cools water down to 00C and then circulates the water in a chilled water loop through a heat exchanger which provides chilled water for food processing. The unit has a nominal cooling capacity of 129.7kW. The NRBY provides a reliable
supply of cool water for the cold- water tanks within an acceptable tolerance and the heat exchanger provides cooling for the soups and coleslaws. Although the new chiller was
efficient, Avondale was keen to further maximise energy savings and used a smart compressor control using Variable Speed Drives (VSDs). These can help compressors to operate smarter, achieve greater efficiencies and lead to greater cost savings. VSDs were integrated on both the refrigeration circuits, and this reduced the chiller’s energy consumption further, even when running continuously at high loads. The VSD’s enable modulation of the scroll compressors operation in Aermec’s air-cooled chiller.
An independent external assessor monitored
Chillers
Variable speed drives boost Irish food processor’s energy efficiencies
An Aermec chiller is delivering energy saving benefits to Northern Ireland’s Avondale Foods as part of the company’s strategy to boost efficiencies, reduce its carbon footprint and be better placed to cope with any future growth
the chiller over a set period, confirming tangible savings. The chiller’s four compressors
were rated at a nominal electrical consumption of 30kW. Data acquired showed that the
chiller was on standby 46% of the time, ran one or two compressors for 27% of the time and only used three of the four compressors for 6% of the time. During standby the chiller cycled in and out to
maintain the required temperatures. The chiller showed a reduction in electrical consumption of 41% which was largely as a result of the VSD drives. “Retrofitting variable speed drives helped us
achieve the energy savings anticipated by Avondale thereby meeting their environmental objectives,” says David Evans, Aermec’s general sales manager. The NRBY chiller is designed for outdoor
installation and offers free cooling (glycol free) with
scroll compressors, plate heat exchanger and axial fans and offers high efficiencies even at partial loads. The NRBY features aluminium micro channel coils which use less refrigerant compared with traditional copper/aluminium coils. It is suitable for many applications such as food production, particularly where there are demanding and complex cooling requirements. Aermec’s chiller solution enabled Avondale to
take advantage of significant energy savings. Some modifications were carried out; to minimise cooling interruption the chiller was designed to include a fast re-start within three minutes, thus reducing the risks of expensive downtime and ensuring fast delivery of chilled water at the desired temperature. Avondale is now benefitting from a robust cooling solution. The handover was so smooth there was no interruption to production. Its PPM strategy will ensure the cooling system will continue to perform optimally, delivering efficiencies whilst reducing emissions, and offering an attractive ROI.
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