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Blast cooling chambers for berries

From crop harvesting to sale. berries undergo various changes and captivate useful substances during growth and lose them during storage. It is difficult to preserve berries since they are highly perishable products. The main storage concern is to provide optimal microclimatic conditions in order to preserve the product quality and its appearance for customers. Berries quickly get overripe due to high temperatures that accelerate metabolism and cause loss of moisture, organic substances and vitamins. Therefore, berries intended for long-term storage (from 2 to 10 months) and short-term storage (from several days to 2 months) need to be quickly cooled down after harvesting that will extend their potential shelf life.

Cooling down Low resistance of berries to phytopathogenic microorganisms and ageing of tissues is a determining factor to establish the blast cooling mode. This enables slowing down the vital processes in the berries and reduce their loss of moisture. By blast cooling of berries immediately after crop harvesting, you keep high content of vitamins in berries, and preserve natural taste of berries, their marketable appearance and subsequent go-to-market. The air blast cooling method is the most effective for cooling of berries before their transportation, especially for long- distance transportation.

Forced airflow cooling of berries.

Blast cooling chambers for berries
Air blast cooling method for berries is carried out with increased flow of cold air forced through the staked products. For retail chains, berry products need to be packed in special packaging and placed in boxes in front of a wall with exhausting fans and covered with horticultural fleece. Thus, the air will evenly flow through the products. 
This is achieved by installing additional exhausting fans in the blast chilling rooms in the specially arranged additional wall.

An operator installs a temperature sensor deep into the stack with the products (number of system sensors is not limited). The operator can manually adjust the fan speed rate, while adjusting the system depending on the volume or type of the product.This method is suitable for any kind of berries After cooling down, the products are stored in chilling chambers and shipped to the buyer. The air in the chamber is cooled down by means of the cooling equipment: a compressor unit (outside the chamber) and air coolers located inside the chamber. The flow of the cold air is distributed throughout the whole volume of the product. With applied exhausting fans installed in the wall, the cooled air from the air coolers is sucked through a pre-covered stack of products. Thus, the cold air rapidly penetrates into the stacked mass and cool the product.

Agrovent cooling equipment. Compressor unit AgroVent CoolSystems.

Berries

The equipment set includes a reversing station, a power control panel, required protective fittings adapted for operation in the winter period. The unit is designed to be located in the engine room in the immediate vicinity of the chamber. Air condenser is used to condense the refrigerant. The air condenser is designed for outdoor installation in the immediate vicinity of the compressor unit at the condenser platform. Freon is supplied to the air coolers by electronic expansion valves that do not require maintenance service and are fully automated. The electronic expansion valve controller allows adjusting the temperature at the cooler output that makes it possible to protect the product from freezing. Air coolers can be defrosted in several ways: manually by the operator or automatically as per the customized schedule.

THE SUPPLIED EQUIPMENT INCLUDES ALL NECESSARY ELEMENTS FOR UNINTERRUPTED OPERATION AND FURTHER MAINTENANCE SERVICE. Air coolers To maintain the preset temperature conditions in the chamber, commercial cubic air coolers are provided; these air coolers are specially designed for air blast cooling. The air coolers of this type have an increased heat exchange area and a low velocity laminar air flow that, in combination with the electronic expansion valve, ensures less drying and weathering of the products.

Automation of the cooling system The equipment is fitted with automatic control switchboard, equipment operation protection and control switchboards. Automation of the cold supply system protects against hazardous operation modes, maintains the preset parameters and controls the main components of the units. The automation level of the units allows operating them in the automatic mode without the constant presence of maintenance personnel. Electrical control cabinets (CC) with a cooling station and a condenser are located in the engine room in the immediate vicinity to the compressor station. The electric boards include a voltage monitor that ensures emergency disconnection in case of voltage destabilization in the grid. The package includes the switchboards completed with dispatch control and remote monitoring system.