Localised air delivery to reduce energy use in the food industry

Completed

Energy Efficiency(Industry)

Applied Research and Development

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Not Cross-cutting

Dr B Harral
Silsoe Research Institute

3

Carbon Trust

01 October 2003

30 October 2005

25 months

£78,270

East of England

Dr B Harral, Silsoe Research Institute

Project Contact, Heinz Frozen and Chilled Foods
Project Contact, Marks and Spencer
Project Contact, Filtration Engineering

In this project the main objectives are to design and demonstrate the operation of a full-scale localised cooling system and to define the energy savings that are possible in a factory environment.

The chilled food sector is the most rapidly expanding part of the UK food industry. Chilled foods must be manufactured under low temperature conditions to prevent the growth of micro-organisms. The industry has an energy use of 3.34x1015 J/year. Of which 6.01x1014 J/year are used to maintain the entire production area at a low temperature. With localised cooling, cold air is delivered directly to the food while the factory is maintained at a higher temperature. The system still allows access to the product. In agreement with Action Energy, a 3m long system, for measuring air flows and temperatures has already been built. From this, energy savings of up to 32% were calculated, which is equivalent to 5.7% of the total energy use. This project will produce a full-scale system to measure energy use and asses ergonomics in a working factory. The project will use recently developed software to design air supply ducts with specialised diffusers for providing cold air close to foods, and a system that could be used in a factory environment

01/01/07