Arrive Dehumidifies Air and Solves Droplet Formation
18 December 2007 14:40
The Essarts poultry plant in France has resolved its problem of frost, condensation and water droplets by drying the air. Manufactures quickly realised that it is in their interest to regulate the temperature in factory workshops but are less quick to tackle humidity in the atmosphere. The presence of water in the atmosphere, however creates favourable conditions for bacterial growth and causes discomfort for operators working in cold conditions. The Arrive group's Essarts plant, with a 650-strong workforce and processing 450,000 birds per week, has taken an important step through the acquisition of six Munters dehumidifiers, to reslove their humidity problems.
DRYING THE AIR
In the wing processing room (1,200m³ at 4-6°C), the cleaning team are given two hours and 30 minutes to do their job. Before, the fifteen technicians' visibility was limited to 50 centimetres due to the fog formed by the water jets working at medium pressure, recalls Oliver Bourhis, Factory Manager. "We installed a dehumidifier, supplying 2,000m³ per hour in a plant of 50,000m³. Since then the visibility has been increased to 15 metres!"
In a workroom where whole chickens are cut up (4,000m³, at 4-6°C) the dehumifier works on an area of 2,700m³/hr in a plant of 70,000m³. The aim is to lower the levels of humidity to 50%, working on the basis that the presence of humidity levels of 70% upwards favours bacterial growth. We wanted to prevent water droplets forming on the ceiling, following advice from the health authorities," Olivier Bourhis emphasised.
The dehumidifier has enabled droplets to be absorbed at ceiling level as well as liberating 10-15% of the energy capacity of the cooling equipment working in cold conditions. This has allowed the temperature of the work room to be lowered from 8°C to 6°C.
The cold store room (18,000m³, at -25°C) houses a dehumidifier treating an area of 1,400m³/hr, in an air-treatment plant of 22,000m³. The aim was to deal with the frost. Essart confirms: "The dryers sublimate the ice. The result is no more frost!"
A small dehumidifier is also situated at the air-locked door to the static deep-freeze tunnels (at -30°C) in order to limit the amount of water droplets created there, due to the difference in temperature, and also to tackle the problem of frost formation on the floor caused by the falling droplets. Another can be found at the dispatch quay for frozen goods.
A dehumidifer is also used to limit the frost in the spiral deep-freeze tunnel. Halting production in order to defrost and clean are less frequent, now taking place every 21 hours instead of every 8 hours. The dehumidifier also translates into an increase in returns on materials and energy. With no frost to contend with, the energy exchanges are better which results in the tunnel running more quickly.
Olivier Bourhis, Factory Manager at Arrivé's Essarts poultry plant said "We wanted a simple technical solution, which would work well with our refrigerating system and be energy-efficient.
We visited the sites of two other companies in our field, who had already installed Munters equipment. They had completely solved their frost problems in the cold rooms and eliminated water droplets on the ceiling of the carving rooms. That made our minds up for us, we did the same thing and it was a success."
For more information on this company:
Munters - Frost Prevention in Freezing and Cold Storage with Humidity Control
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