Kelvion air cooler in a unique system for food production. One of Russia’s leading meat producers needed to create a non-standard technical solution for a new integrated roasted pancake production line.
Design collaboration Kelvion’s partner OKANT & K, which specializes in supplying new technologies to the food industry, devised a unique system – a dual-mode freezing and cooling chamber. Both temperature modes could run alternatively with just a heat exchange unit. However, there was the added complexity of the need to use CO2 with a boiling point of -40⁰ C as the main refrigerant. Collaboration between the two companies’ design teams resulted in selecting a Kelvion two-circuit air cooler with a glycol line placed parallel with the CO2 circuit. The low viscosity propylene glycol solution of the HNT-SNV brand was chosen as an additional coolant. As this refrigerant does not crystallize at extremely low ambient temperatures, the glycol circuit can be used to solve another problem - defrosting the unit.Variable fin pitch The working conditions for the air cooler involve continuous cooling and freezing of the hot pancake rolls – the temperature of the chamber inlet is 45⁰C - 60⁰C. To increase operational performance time without defrosting, the heat exchange unit was designed with a variable fin pitch. Special consideration was given to the choice of fin material to combat the corrosive nature of the various pancake fillings, including forcemeat, cheese and fruit.The result The dual-mode freezing and cooling chamber with Kelvion air cooler passed all tests and is operating successfully.
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