Custom Freezer Sizing
Freezer sizing entails several important factors. I recently spoke with a gentleman who had a need for a nitrogen freezer for his new production line. He found a freezer online from an equipment vendor and purchased it for his new line, convinced that he made a great deal. The only trouble was that the freezer capacity was limited to only 70% of what his new production throughput required. He thought the freezer was ok because he went by the available refrigeration, (BTU’s), per hour given to him. Other factors were not considered which impacted his actual retention time. The BTU rating was arrived at by evaluating piping size, total orifice volume given specific nozzle sizes, and proportion valve size.
Oversizing a freezer also has unwanted consequences such as additional cool down and fixed losses throughout the production cycle.
Factors that need to be considered to properly size a freezer and the type of freezer includes:
- Available floor space
- Available production room height
- Product temperature profile
- Belt loading: by what means will the freezer be loaded?
- Actual time and temperature needed to achieve temperature profile
- Do we need to factor addition growth?
Note: Although there are different programs out there, (I have one myself), to determine freezer sizing, I always utilize an inhouse test with actual product from the production line during production to base my sizing. The reason I use this method is because I have compared the inhouse testing results with my program and found that they don’t always line up. A one-minute discrepancy in the retention time will impact the amount of production throughput that the customer is counting on. In most cases, the exact surface area of the product is what alters the retention time which in turn skews the program results.
In the twenty-three plus years of sizing freezers I have never placed a freezer that was not sized correctly.
Types of Freezers
Cabinet Freezers
Ideal for Batch Freezing, smaller processors, test kitchens, and laboratories. Food products are loaded onto racks and pushed into the cabinet freezer. Available as a single or double door unit.
Stainless Steel, laser cut and computer- balanced fan blades. Safety interlock ensures doors closed and exhaust active during operation.
Straight Belt Tunnel Freezer
Perfect for freezing a wide range of food products, including hamburger and other formed meat products, pizza and other prepared foods, raw and cooked poultry products, baked goods, and seafood products. The straight belt tunnel is an ultra efficient freezing system, that utilizes the optimum injection technology for either CO2 or LN2. Your food product receives rapid crust freezing, and balanced circulation from top and bottom mounted high velocity fans achieves cost-effective finish freezing. These freezers are highly productive, easy to operate, clean and maintain. Modular design allows for unmatched ease of installation and expandability.
Liquid Nitrogen Dip Freezing Tunnel
A liquid nitrogen immersion freezer combines the simplicity of a nitrogen immersion dip with no nonsense, heavy-duty stainless steel construction, simplified controls and full access for maximum clean ability and easy maintenance.
These can be used as a stand alone freezing system for small, high value IQF products. When located in front of spiral freezers(cryogenic or mechanical), this model will provide super fast crusting action, providing shape retention for delicate products, enhanced yield retention and product quality, increased production and reduced ice buildup on evaporator coils.
Flighted Tunnel Freezer
Flighted tunnel Freezers' have been refined to produce IQF products in all segments of the food industry. Seafood such as shrimp and scallops, poultry, pork products, fruits, and vegetables, freeze successfully in IQF form thru this proven design. The modular design allows for future expansion and facilitates ease of installation on multiple module systems. The flighted conveyor gently tumbles the product ensuring IQF quality while continually exposing new surfaces for maximum heat transfer and cryogen efficiency. Product stacking in successive flights allows adequate retention to fully freeze the product to its core.
