Views: 2062

14 Factors to Keep Your Refrigeration Compressor Package in Check

While we’ve already blogged about ways to determine the fitness of your refrigeration compressor, it’s important to pay attention to the big picture as well. Ensure you keep up with the the health of your entire refrigeration compressor package, as failure to check components including the motor, control panel and suction superheat, can cause major failures. Here are the 14 key factors to check within each component of your compressor package.

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Views: 2348

[Timeline] 9 Defining Moments for the Food Processing Industry

July marks an exciting milestone for Stellar: our 30th anniversary. While we’ve celebrated plenty of remarkable moments over the past three decades, we know we’re not the only ones. Food processing has experienced several turning points of its own, signifying key changes that have molded food manufacturing as we know it today. Continue Reading “[Timeline] 9 Defining Moments for the Food Processing Industry”

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The Latest in Natural Refrigerants: ATMOsphere America 2015 Recap

I recently joined hundreds of refrigeration stakeholders in Atlanta for ATMOsphere America 2015, an annual natural refrigerants conference. Stellar was among the 37 sponsors, and I among the group of 60-plus speakers, leading a presentation on the advantages of packaged refrigeration equipment. I also attended several sessions myself, leaving the conference with valuable takeaways on the refrigeration industry, including my favorites below: Continue Reading “The Latest in Natural Refrigerants: ATMOsphere America 2015 Recap”

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Is Your Food Processing Plant Safe From Listeria?

Listeria is a foodborne illness that can have dire consequences–sometimes, deadly. The bacteria is characteristically persistent, able to not only thrive for years, but within frozen storage and outside of the expected environments, such as meat processing plants. Are you sure you’re taking the proper measures to ensure listeria isn’t growing in your facility?

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3 Ways to Prevent Food Plant Electrical System Malfunctions

Do you give enough care and consideration to your food processing facility’s electrical equipment? As a senior electrical engineer for Stellar, I joined several of my peers in a discussion in this month’s Food Engineering article, “Electrical systems and components: The lifeblood of your facility,” on electrical safety, systems maintenance and more. In the article, I reviewed factors that impact your plant’s electrical well-being. Below I describe them in greater detail for Food for Thought’s readers: Continue Reading “3 Ways to Prevent Food Plant Electrical System Malfunctions”

Views: 1156

Automation Safety: Clearer Requirements Arise for Risk Assessments

Automation has gained plenty of traction in the food and beverage processing industry thanks to benefits including cost savings, labor reduction and increased food safety. However, a slew of national and international guidelines and requirements has made owning automation equipment more complex than ever before—with risk assessments an especially gray area. The good news? Clearer risk assessment requirements have arrived from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), offering more consistent expectations.

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Views: 1321

[SlideShare] 3 Things to Know About the Changing Refrigeration Climate

Did you tune in to our Food Engineering webinar last week? We discussed the changing refrigeration climate, including what you should know about revised compliance schedules, innovative refrigeration technologies and the pros and cons for each. You can check out our full presentation in the SlideShare provided below.

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Refrigeration for the Future: Low-Charge Refrigerated Packaged Equipment

Due to its phaseout, an alphabet soup of replacement refrigerants has been developed to replace R-22 in existing chillers. However, most of these alternatives have drawbacks. Some replacements severely penalize the performance of the chiller, while others have significant glide—and all have higher global warming potential than ammonia. And though these refrigerants may not be on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) phaseout list yet, they have the potential to be. As new chillers rise to replace the old, ammonia is one refrigerant that has become an effective alternative. Continue Reading “Refrigeration for the Future: Low-Charge Refrigerated Packaged Equipment”

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Distributed Refrigeration: The Benefits of Ammonia Refrigeration Without the Risk

The majority of industrial refrigeration systems in the U.S. are central-station ammonia systems—the backbone of the food and beverage industry. For over 100 years, these ammonia systems have dominated the industry because they not only have superior thermos-physical properties, but also because they’re environmentally friendly. Ammonia has a global warming potential (GWP) and ozone depletion potential (ODP) of zero.

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