“Jet Precoolers Fully-Cool Packed Cherries in 1 Hour”
“The benefits to the packhouse owners are just over the top,” explained Jim Still, founder and president of Global Cooling Inc. “The cherries have much longer shelf life, there is greater net weight for retailers to sell, the fruit is more disease-resistant, the fruit stays pretty and doesn't wrinkle so much, and it just goes on and on and on.” Global's revolutionary Jet Precooler was the precooling tunnel equipment used in the tests.
Still, known to many as “Banana Jim” for his invention of Tarpless Ripening 20 years ago now, continued to explain. “Our Jet Precooler uses two 10 HP fan motors, and we cooled the cherries in 1 hour when we ran at 100% fan speed, but the fan propeller design is so unique, we only drew the equivalent of 18 HP worth of electricity, despite running at over 2 inches of static pressure.”
This Still compared to the current “state of the art” in cherry packhouse cooling fans, where a single 5 HP fan takes up to 8 or 10 hours to fully cool the same packed cherries. “Not only do we win with 1 hour instead of 8, but we did the full cooling with only 18-horsepower-hours of electricity, as opposed to the old way that uses 40-horsepower hours. So we cooled in 1/8th of the time, for less than ½ of the electrical cost.” The secret, he said, is the the Jet produces 8 times as much airflow as do the other systems. “If we have 8 times as much airflow, or cfm, per pallet, then we will cool 8 times as fast. It's as simple as that.”
“Our Jet Precoolers are so powerful and affordable,” explained Jim Still, who is also Global's CVO, “they just flat out make money for everyone who owns one just about everywhere you could use powerful forced-air cooling in your operations.”
“Prompt and proper precooling,” Still explained, “is a postharvest magic that reduces produce and floral respiration, and in so doing, minimizes water loss, which is the key to maximizing shelf life and salable weight, and preserving curb appeal and flavour.”
“What goes unnoticed by many,” according to Still, “is that all postharvest gains, achieved by operating a better cold chain, drop straight to the bottom line as pure profit.” Continuing with his example, Still added “If a grower or packer can suddenly realize an extra 1% product weight to sell, if he or she sells by the pound or kilo, that additional revenue is all pure profit, in many cases adding 25% or more to the company's total profit amount.”
“With the PNW cherries,” Still concluded, “the operational gains of 1 hour precooling are just astounding. Less tractor trailers backed up in the yard, some of the now unused C.A. Rooms can be turned off completely, in other cases they can also new be used for additional cold storage for packed out apples and pears, and we are so energy-efficient, the electrical company looks like they will subsidize the acquisition price of the Jet Precoolers, too.”
For more information:
Jim Still
Global Cooling Inc.
Tel: +1-610-248-9800
solutions@Pre-Coolers.net
www.PreCoolers.net