Importer BUD Holland has started using six new ripening chambers this month for ripening exotic fruit. This extension was a good occasion to replace the existing Freon installation. Nijssen Koeling Ltd realised an innovative energy saving cooling and freezing installation based on natural refrigerants.BUD Holland's location in Maassluis has a surface of around 7,500 m2. Besides the 6 new ripening chambers the building has 14 cooling cells (0°C), 1 freezing cell (-22°C) and 2 expedition areas (+12°C). Nijssen conditions all these spaces through one central installation. The installation consists of an indirect cascade cooling system with ammonia as the primary refrigerant. This makes it possible to regulate the temperature in the ripening chambers very precisely - a necessary condition for an even ripening of exotic products.
Extending possibilities
"We are extending our possibilities with the new ripening chambers," says Cor Burghoorn, financial manager at BUD Holland. "Besides ripening exotic fruit the ripening chambers are also a solution for products that need airing or for which the air humidity has to be reduced." The multifunctional ripening chambers are all individually adjustable within a wide temperature range. This means they are suitable for ripening various kinds of fruit, such as mangos, avocados, papayas and of course bananas. A ethylene-gassing system is installed for controlled ripening.
Even conditioning
Nijssen developed special coolers for ripening chambers to be able to condition products equally. By foreseeing the ventilators of a frequency control, very precise air division can also be realised when the ripening chamber is partially full. An electrically controllable stair cover (trapafdekking) ensures that the conditioned air is sucked through the stacks of produce. The product temperature as well as the air temperature is measured constantly. To maintain an accurate relative humidity, the ripening chambers are all foreseen of a humidifying system and a dehumidifier. Each chamber is also foreseen of its own ventilation system for controlled supply of outside air.
Fully automatic control
The advanced Ripeningmaster® control programme, that was developed by Nijssen, ensures full automatic control of the cooling, heating, humidity control and gas. Per ripening chamber and per product a conditioning programme can be pre-programmed for a period of one day through to a number of weeks. The control ensures that temperature changes between the storage period and the ripening period are realised evenly, with a course that provides the best result for the product. In this way the specialist product knowledge of the riper and the optimal control of the installation make for perfect quality at the end of the storing and ripening process. The final result is a gorgeous 'ready to eat' fruit.
