2875 - Penmann Cooling Tunnel

PENMANN COOLING TUNNEL

System Description:

Penmann Cooling Tunnel’s primary use is to fulfill the requirement to rapidly cool a whole range of palletized product to a dispatch temperature prior to moving to their cold store. It has been designed and installed as a fully automated "in line" cooling tunnel to deal with the high levels of production throughput. The tunnels have a narrow footprint to enable them to fit into conventional food production lines saving valuable production space. They were also designed to allow maximum access for ease of maintenance and also to minimize downtime. They were also designed with key mechanical features i.e. index loading of pallets to minimize air gaps and maximize cooling times and hence achieve maximum efficiency.

Key Features:

Narrow footprint saving production space, Reverse Air Flow to ensure even cooling, Ease of access for on-line maintenance, Indexed loading/static pressure cooling to ensure rapid chill time.

Specifications of Tunnel:

The tunnel was installed with nominal external dimensions of 17.5 mts Long x 5.55 mts wide x 4.3 mts high. The tunnel was constructed in 100 m White Polyisocyanurate paneling faced with 0.5 mm white cleanable PVC FOOD SAFE laminate finish and all the joints were sealed with silicon sealant. The tunnel has 8 Nos. of personnel doors @ 4 doors per tunnel for maintenance and other work to be carried our and 4 Nos. of electrically operated vertical lift insulated doors @ 2 per tunnel for pallet entry and exit. The doors were sited at the end of the tunnel.

No of tunnels - 2 lengths

Rate – 20 Pallets per hour @ 700 Kgs average (Max of 800 kgs) Pallet height: 1700 - 1760 mm including pallet.

Conveyor speed - 10 mts per minute

Type – Blast Tunnel.

Temperature Handling Capability & Efficiency: Depending on packaging arrangements, these systems are capable of cooling 500kg of product from 20°C entry temperature to 4°C in less than one hour.

Year of manufacture: 2005

The Tunnel was fitted with 4 Nos. of blow through evaporators per tunnel fitted between the main and false ceiling.

Total No. of Evaporators - 8 off

There were 16 Nos. short cased axial fans per tunnel in the tunnel, 5 per Zone.

Total No. of fans - 32 off

Fan ratings:

3.8 KW per fan

RPM - 2910

Air volume - 4.18 cubic meters per fan

Other electrical equipment connected to the Penmann Tunnel:

Primary Pumps for Chilled Glycol circulation x 2 off (Grundfos) Motor rating - 15 KW each

Secondary pumps for Chilled Glycol circulation x 2 off (Grundfos) Motor rating: 30 KW each

Cooling tower pumps x 2 off (Grundfos)

Motor rating - 15 KW each

Glycol Plant:

The total plant duty was 400 K, cooling medium was 40% Propylene Glycol and the flow temperature was -14d dec C.

Chiller Pack:

Chiller Plant Details: Make: GEA Grasso GmbH, Refrigeration Technology, Year of Manufacture