Cooling is the basis of maintaining the shelf life and quality of products, making year-round availability possible. Van Kempen Koudetechniek has worked in cold technology for 68 years. “The use of natural cooling agents and saving energy are the trend,” says Jan van Zante of Van Kempen Koudetechniek.
The company has all the necessary disciplines, from building cold stores and cooling installations to the operating system. When realizing a cooling installation, Jan says determining the right basis is most important. All the elements, like the cooler, evaporator, compressor and condenser, need to be in line with each other. “Particularly in operation, we can really stand out,” Jan says. “Last year we introduced our new software suite VK-Dynamics. This programme gives full insight and control in the cooling and freezing installation. We built in a special module for fruit storage.”
Apples and pears
The new top fruit installations are now all suitable for storing pears as well. “That’s necessary, because especially in the Netherlands and Belgium, more capacity is needed for this. While the apple acreage has been stagnating in recent years, we’re seeing an increase in the pear acreage. The cooling technique is the same in principle, but the execution is different. The system is designed in such a way that it’s suitable for both apples and pears,” the cooling technique specialist continues. With a well-designed cooling installation, he says the grower can respond more flexibly to the market. It offers the opportunity to sell the product at a suitable moment, or to opt for a guaranteed continuous supply of the same product.
Distance reporting
Nowadays it’s very simple to generate and report information always and everywhere. Control of the cooling installation is also possible from a distance via computer, tablet or smartphone. Van Kempen Koudetechniek handles inspection and reporting according to the client’s wishes, and can be reached 24/7 through a reporting formula. “In case of a change of conditions, such as changes in temperature or a defrosting or cooling setting that’s too long, we are immediately notified. Then action can be taken without influencing the condition of the fruit,” he explains.
Sustainability
Within the organization, the environment is also an important aspect. The use of HFC (hydrofluorocarbons) cooling agents is strongly discouraged or even forbidden by the government. Van Kempen Koudetechniek uses natural cooling agents, such as ammonia and CO2. Ammonia is an environmentally friendly cooling agent that’s been used for a while now in cooling. It doesn’t damage the ozone layer, and doesn’t cause a greenhouse effect in the atmosphere. “We expect ammonia to be the cooling agent of the future. And cooling with ammonia has a positive effect on energy use. Energy saving is really a hot topic,” Jan explains. Last year, Van Kempen Koudetechniek participated in a research project. “Together with Wageningen UR, but also other specialists in the cooling industry, we worked on optimizing a pear storage room. After the research, the conclusion was that this leads to a significantly higher product quality and lower energy use,” he says. “We adjusted a cooler in such a way that it doesn’t have to work as hard in the cold store, which means less energy is used. We now use this cooler in newer installations as well. We are also working on implementing solar panels with DC motors. In that case there’s no converter, which normally uses much more energy than necessary. That in turn makes for major energy savings.”
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Van Kempen Koudetechniek
Jan van Zante
