03 November 2021
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ICS Cool Energy has completed the turnkey installation of a new process cooling system at a leading UK dairy processing plant.
The new installation will deliver 1.2MW of process cooling to serve two production areas and is based on three Imperium chillers using ultra-low global warming potential (GWP) R1234ze refrigerant.
As part of the project to expand the manufacturing plant and increase cooling capacity, it was decided to replace the existing chillers and install a centralised cooling system that would cover the demand for the current and new production areas.
“We conducted a thorough analysis of the customer’s usage for the existing plant and looked at the envisaged utilisation of the new production plant to ensure a workable system,” said Ben Young, major account manager at ICS Cool Energy. “While the customer initially leant towards an ammonia-based system, which was traditionally used on site in the past, they changed their mind after we presented the benefits of a HFO-refrigerant based system.”
“Many industries and businesses are favouring an HFO like R1234ze over ammonia due to its non-toxic nature. The HFO also offers very low GWP value of less than 1. By utilising the latest technology innovations, process cooling systems with HFO refrigerants can create a safer, more trouble free, energy efficient option with equally low environmental impact as ammonia.”
The ICS Cool Energy team designed the system around the three Imperium air-cooled screw chillers on a duty, duty, standby arrangement. The setup is capable of delivering a total cooling capacity of 1.2 MW to fulfil the production requirements for 1°C supply water temperature and includes additional standby capacity. The standby capacity was critical for the customer, as being a leading dairy manufacturer in the UK they needed to ensure the continuity of production.
As part of this project, ICS Cool Energy designed and prefabricated a skid off site, which included weir tank, eight circulation pumps, and run and standby heat exchangers. This was needed specifically to ensure equipment could fit within the tight designated space.
“It proved to be a very rewarding project,” added Young. “Our team took care of the entire installation process, which included mechanical tie ins, control panel, an additional cooling tower with contract lift onto full commissioning and training. Additionally, we installed a temporary, cooling system from our hire fleet, to ensure we kept our customer’s operations running while we continued the works on the new plant.”
