ACE Refrigeration has installed new state of the art energy efficient equipment, the first of its kind in the UK, as part of a major refrigeration contract with one of Scotland’s best known seafood companies, Associated Seafoods.
As part of the refurbishment and upgrade of the company’s existing fish processing factory in Buckie, the ACE team installed a pack of four compressors with the lead compressor, a semi-hermetic reciprocating compressor, using digital control logic.
This pack is said to reduce running costs drastically as it allows for a large variance between peak and minimum load demand. Previously refrigeration engineers may have used a standard compressor or controlled the lead compressor via an inverter drive. But a standard lead compressor would have led to crude capacity control and on occasion there can be compressor damage when using inverter drives and operating them at low speed for an extended period.
ACE says that digital modulation is the most simple and precise method of capacity control and helps to contain costs associated with modulation. The compressor always runs at constant speed which resolves the challenges related to oil return, mechanical and electrical stress on the system.
The new Copeland Stream compressor pack installed by ACE at Associated Seafoods also controls three air handling units, managing the air conditioning for the entire factory.
ACE has worked with Associated Seafoods to help create a new BRC (British Retail Consortium) compliant processing plant and this digitally controlled compressor pack helps the refrigeration plant to be energy efficient, sustainable, quiet and more environmentally responsible.
R22 Replacement
ACE has also completed further R22 Replacement with seafood producer Marine Harvest at Fort William.
Earlier this year ACE replaced R22 in the gutting hall at the Fort William site and now the ice plant condensing units, which also ran on R22, have been replaced.
The use of virgin R22 gas is already prohibited and the use of recycled and/or reclaimed gas will be prohibited after 31st Dec 2014. A number of options are available to customers requiring R22 replacement, dependent on the age and state of their equipment.
Shane McKenzie, sales director of ACE Refrigeration, said: “If you don’t have a plan for your R22 Gas replacement then you’re risking your business with a little more than a year to go to the final deadline. However there are a variety of options available for customers, large and small.”
