Singapore based Dantech Food Systems has developed a tunnel freezer which is easily movable, energy efficient, easy to install, easy to clean, easy to handle – and easy to sell again.
The new Super Flow Easy Clean Freezer from is a new way of handling one of the most important aspects of securing a safe line from the producer to the consumer's table - the freezing process.
The company says that the future for modern tunnel freezers is based on the fact that the machines are:
• Easy to move
• Cheap to run
• Energy efficient
• Environmentally friendly
• Easy to clean
CEO and founder Henrik Ziegler launched the new freezer during the European Seafood Show in Brussels earlier in the year. The key elements are globally patented.
"The whole idea was based on giving the freezer a profound brush up. For years the industry has developed by slightly improving or upgrading the old machines. My approach was to throw everything up in the air and ask myself the question: With the modern technology and the knowledge we have obtained for so many years - how would we make a freezer today?" explains Mr Ziegler.
Beside a new efficient and energy saving freezing technique based on available scientific knowledge, the basic new way of thinking, was to make it movable, green and easy to handle - thereby securing a new approach to a changing economy and a highly competitive and globalised food industry.
Current freezers on the market require a concrete foundation and are built into to factory floor. Once installed it cannot be moved.
The Super Flow Easy Clean Freezer can be moved, which creates a whole new set up. The installation alone saves time and money - usually installation will be a three-week process but Dantech says that it's new freezer The will be operating as early as 2-3 days from being delivered in a container.
The secret is that it arrives fully factory assembled as a whole body steel machine, which can easily be moved and installed.
Mr Ziegler explains, "The current freezers are dead if a factory has to move. The new freezer is movable. That will eventually also create a secondary market. Today a freezer loses its commercial value the moment it is installed. The new freezer can be traded."
Another first is that the freezing chamber can be raised mechanically. With the push of a button it goes into the air. The internal lay out is so that it can be completely cleaned in 10 minutes which is a sharp contrast to current grounded freezers, which, according to Dantech, are difficult to clean. It takes a lot of time and the amount of water used in the cleaning process is substantial.
"The new approach to cleaning solves another major problem inside the industry. The cleaning process is so difficult, that many producers are having problems with the bacteria. That's the worst fear for all of them. One small mistake can be really expensive", says Mr Ziegler.
In a broader sense, the easy cleaning process find its way directly to the bottom line, since water and labour hours for cleaning are of considerable expense in an industry where the cost of processing defines success or failure.
There are other new technological solutions, which support both the finances and environment. For instance, the freezing process has been sped up, and the freezer itself is divided into separate chambers. Features which are highly energy consuming have been changed. The electricity bill will be cut dramatically. Altogether the new Dantech freezer reduces the overall freezing cost by at least 15%.
Included in the global patents are features that divide the inside so that the temperature and pressure can be differentiated in different parts of the freezer.
Another patented feature is the way that the airflow is guided inside the machine. The airflow can be purely based on impingement airflow technology or simply the less energy consuming turbulent airflow. This machine can run with a combination of both, which again saves money and energy.
Mr Ziegler concludes: "I have been in this business for many, many years. During my travels around the globe and countless meetings with people inside the industry, I have been confronted with all the problems the producers are facing. I have listened and managed to solve many of them. You might ask why nobody else has been taking this step before. But I guess, that's how it always is in all fields of life. You are using and improving your old tools and are quite happy about that, until someone suddenly changes the fundamentals in line with new technologies and new political, cultural and financial realities - like environmental concerns and global competition. In the case of freezing that 'someone' happens to be me. I literally like to think outside the traditional 'box'. That is what we have been doing in creating the New Super Flow Easy Clean Freezer."
