Refrigeration / Meat Processing

The family-owned company is known for fine hams and many other meat delicacies. In addition the firm offers party service, canteen management, wedding and event catering in all variations: from cold cuts, to finger food, to buffets, and from small gatherings to major functions. And to ensure that meat, ham and sausage arrive on the table in top quality, the Schuster family naturally optimises its refrigeration installations on a regular basis. The latest round of modernisation began in April 2003, when the Schusters had decided to build a new large meat processing facility with adjoining sales area and residential quarters. New construction had become necessary because the existing facilities were bursting at the seams and more space was urgently needed. In terms of the refrigeration technology this was an opportunity to make a major step forward.

The previous solution, which consisted primarily of individual systems, was replaced with a sophisticated integrated solution with supplemental individual systems. The cooling system had to satisfy the a number of demanding specifications. It had to offer optimal energy efficiency and be configurable for different temperature ranges. It also had to be suitable for different application scenarios, which meant that it must provide cooling as well as airconditioning control. This was the prerequisite for ensuring optimal conditions in each of the different areas. Temperature and humidity can be precisely matched to the needs of the rooms.

Air speeds can also be adjusted. For instance, in rooms where employees are working all day, the air speeds must be kept as low as possible to avoid draughts.
Thus, the refrigerating system was organised as follows:

• Compressor unit for cooling rooms 
• Compressor unit for cutting rooms and work rooms 
• Compressor unit for small cooling units in the sales area 
• Individual systems for deep freeze rooms to optimise energy consumption and ensure operational reliability.

Mode of operation: The work process of a butcher‘s shop starts in the cutting room. In an area of approximately 75 m² meat products are precisely cut under a four-fan Küba comfort DP Ceiling Air Cooler. Thanks to the low air speed of maximum 0.8 m/s, work under these Air Coolers is quite pleasant. After fine cutting, the meat then goes to further processing and then onto smoking in the smoker systems, or cooking in the multi-cart cooking systems. The next step is to cure (preserve) the sausage and meat products. The curing chamber is maintained at a constant +2 °C by an electrically defrosted SGA81. Connected to the curing chamber are a consignment cooling room (pre-picking cooling room) and a meat cooling room that are both equipped with no draft gravity coils Küba KVB. A packaging and loading area is next to the consignment cooling room. This is where a four-fan and a two-fan Küba comfort DP Ceiling Air Cooler perform their labour.

All DP units are equipped with speed switches to avoid drafts. “Our efforts were directed towards installing an economic and also a technically sophisticated, standard solution with multiple systems,” emphasises Rudolf Strauß, who designed the system. “Our principle is: Intelligent and synergetic solutions for the client‘s specific requirements.” Strauß opted for Kelvion units due to the wide range of products. “Thus, we were able to avoid mixing different makes.” The customer, Fleischhauerei Schuster, is very pleased with the system, which has been working perfectly since operation began. And the end customers enjoy the fine products.