Energy Savings

Preventing fire in freezer stores

Preventing fire in freezer stores

Energy Savings, Maintenance, News, Safety /

Ever since the Duncan Dock Cold Store fire over 20 years ago we all know that freezer stores can burn. Various types of sprinkler systems have been installed in freezers at great expense and questionable efficiency. Broken sprinkler heads lead to condemned product and disrupted operations until ice can be cleared from the floor. But there are alternatives, one of them being to reduce the oxygen level within the freezer store so that fires simply cannot take hold. Discussions with Arina Duyvesteijn of FX Prevent suggest that a nitrogen production system to reduce oxygen percentages from 20 to 15%  in a Cape Town freezer store measuring 53.8metres X41.3 metres X 15 metres high holding 6000 pallets on mobiles and a high volume throughput through 2 full sized doors would be 374,600 Euros installed. The use of conveyors for introducing and dispatching product with full sized doors only opened to allow for reach truck end of shift movements could reduce the capital cost by almost 28%. Running costs, largely for the FX prevent compressors, with large doors approximately 21000 KWhrs per month. Small doors with conveyors 10,000KWhrs. Special attention would be required around the sealing of panels but this, like keeping access doors closed, should already be common practice to reduce energy costs. At 15% oxygen personnel could still work safely inside the freezer but would need to be trained in the relevant health and safety aspects. While I have no idea on the current costs of a sprinkler system for the same size of store, especially if tanks and pumps are required, removing the risk of floor ice and water damage makes the FX Prevent solution attractive. The European standard prEN 16750 gives more technical detail. If anyone is interested in learning more about this popular European method of fire prevention, please contact me on james@barpro.co.za or email Arina Duyvesteijn directly arina.duyvesteijn@fx-prevent.com.

Preventing fire in freezer stores Read More »

MAT Biddle Cold Store Air curtain Barpro Storage Storax Mobile Racking Storage solutions south africa (443x640)

FREEZER STORE ENTRANCES – How important are they?

Blog, Cold store entrances, Construction, Energy Savings, Featured, General Interest, Materials Handling Equipment, Safety, Tips, Uncategorized /

A UK cold store owner remarked to me once that the electricity usage difference between a 30,000 and a 15,000 pallet freezer store was just over 1000 GBPs per year so long as the bigger store only had one commonly used access door. Having built both, he was in a position to know. The doors are just under 3 metres high and wider than the South African standard of 2.4 metres, with a demarcation line in the middle and entry on the left. Reach truck access is via a separate door. His freezer entrances have clear plastic flaps and an interior airlock with dehumidifier which exerts a positive air pressure. This keeps the cold air from escaping and the warm moist air from entering the store. There is no ice build-up or mist in the door way. Previously cheap electricity did not encourage South African operators to spend money on freezer doorways. In most there is a solid night door with a plastic strip curtain, some of which are broken or missing. The door may be motorised, but is too slow for high movement frequency and when the motorized system breaks it is seldom repaired. Doorways are frequently between 5 and 6 metres high and 2.4 metres wide to accommodate reach trucks. In some instances the door remains open all day with not even a strip curtain. At today’s electricity prices this is costing a fortune not only through the loss of expensive cold air but also the moisture in the warm incoming air ends up insulating the evaporator coils and making them inefficient. Multiple defrosts are expensive. Some door solutions to consider: Create a separate higher door for reach truck access and a lower one for product movement on motorised pallet jacks. Either create a small dehumidification airlock with positive pressure around the access door way or dehumidify the whole airlock. Install a high speed cloth door inside the freezer entrance and combine it with a dehumidifier. Install an insulated automated roll up door on the outside of the freezer. Install a fast opening 2 part door. Install an air curtain in lower doorways up to 4 metres. Consider the use of pallet conveyors for moving product into and out of freezers. Access can be a very expensive part of a cold store. It must be designed correctly but with the right equipment can reduce electricity bills significantly. Headline picture courtesy of MAT Biddle Cold Store Air (http://www.biddle.info/documents/UKbrochures/Invisidor%20MAT.UK.pdf)

FREEZER STORE ENTRANCES – How important are they? Read More »

Cold Store Lighting Technology

Cold store lighting, Construction, Energy Savings, General Interest, Tips, Uncategorized, Warehouse lighting /

In all fields of commercial and industrial activity technology marches forward, and failure to keep pace with new developments incurs the risk of being left behind. Typical case in point has been the rapid progression of illumination systems in storage facilities – and more topically in temperature controlled environments. Fluorescent tubes have been the traditional choice due to lighting quality, low profile shape, good energy efficiency, and obviously, capital cost. Light intensity has made use of these in modern, high ceiling, stores problematic in the past, but recent advances have largely overcome this problem. Relatively frequent tube failure involving replacement at often considerable heights has been an obvious drawback – especially in the cold. HID (high intensity discharge) fittings have become more common place – Sodium vapour offering very high efficiency, but not popular due to mostly unsatisfactory light intensity and colour rendition; with Metal Halide (mercury) providing far better light quality but greater energy consumption. MH units exhibit notable delay in warming up and switching down; and there are mounting environmental concerns because of the high toxicity of mercury. LED lighting technology has leapt forward in recent years, and has become the system of choice in most modern commercial, domestic, and automotive applications – but perceived relative high costs have largely precluded their usage industrially. However with constant advances in production methods and volumes, prices have been decreasing rapidly to the level where they offer a serious alternative to the above-mentioned systems for warehouses and cold stores. The first major advantage of LEDs is their huge energy saving – typically an LED unit will consume only approximately 25% of the electricity required for the same amount of light as traditional systems. They also have the quality of producing hardly any heat – a big bonus in cold environments – and provide increasingly acceptable light quality. Last, but by no means least, is their almost indefinite life-span (regardless of how often they are switched on and off) so will hardly ever need replacing. It may not be common knowledge, but for those users deeply motivated by energy savings, it is apparently now possible to replace the bulbs in HID fittings with LED bulbs without any other modifications. Barpro are not lighting experts, and offer the above only for consideration. However we believe that we have a duty to offer to our customers the best advice available on all aspects of cold-store design and development, and as such will be pleased to direct any enquiries on this subject to trusted specialist partner companies. For more on Cold Store Lighting follow: www.trevos.eu/getFile/case:show/id:171358

Cold Store Lighting Technology Read More »