When we refer to industrial refrigeration, we usually refer to the most efficient plant possible. We refer to Ammonia plants, due to its unparalleled thermodynamic properties.
Refrigeration plants in food factories mainly provide the cooling for the process, the air conditioning and the storage of goods.
Screw compressor in an industrial plant
Plate heat Exchanger – gravity fed for water-glycol cooling
People not familiar with refrigeration just consider the refrigeration plant as single units (split) without considering the benefit of integrated centralised systems that provide much higher efficiency and, although more expensive, a very fast return of the investment.
Centralised plant, if properly design, allow lower condensing temperature with much higher COP (Coefficient of Performance) of the compressors.
At the same time, if production process requires cooling capacity, centralised plant can provide accumulation during night avoiding over sizing of the plant and peak consumption during day when main electric loads are under duty.
Despite the safety concerns that ammonia is poisonous in high concentrations, 2 factors, however, mitigate this risk:
- Ammonia’s distinctive smell is detectable at concentrations well below those considered to be dangerous
- Ammonia is lighter than air, so if any does leak, it will rise and dissipate in the atmosphere.
The pros of such refrigerant surpass these concerns.
- Ammonia is a more efficient refrigerant than CFCs, so an ammonia-based system requires less electricity, resulting in lower operating costs
- Ammonia is safe for the environment, with an Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) rating of 0 and a Global Warming Potential (GWP) rating of 0.
- Ammonia is substantially less expensive than CFCs or HCFCs
- In most food factories the coolant circulating in the factory is water with glycol to allow below zero temperatures, making the ammonia plant selection a safe option for the personnel.
We design and built refrigeration plant to meet your plants requirements, including expandability, thus making your investment future proof.
Industrial plant, when water is available, are equipped with evaporative condensers. Condensation temperature in this way, can be quite low and consequently the COP of the plant and the overall efficiency sensibly increase. Efficiency of an evaporative system compared with an air condensing one is about the double. This means half energy consumption for the same cooling load.
Evaporative condensers in parallel, with liquid receiver working also as balance siphon
Ice banks in parallel
The condensing unit is a critical part and be always oversize is a good solution to minimize running problems due to unexpected situations. When more than one condenser is installed in a plant, correct balancing is essential to avoid operation of a single unit and gas by-pass on the other.
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Refrigeration plant installation and piping connection