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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”
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”
All lighting is not created equal. When selecting LED or fluorescent lighting for your food facility or warehouse, understand that each type is better suited for some areas rather than others. How can you know which is the right fit for your plant?
Continue Reading “How to Choose the Best Lighting for Your Food Facility”
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?
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”
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.
Continue Reading “[SlideShare] 3 Things to Know About the Changing Refrigeration Climate”
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”
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.
Continue Reading “Distributed Refrigeration: The Benefits of Ammonia Refrigeration Without the Risk”
Did you know CO2 has been used in mechanical systems since the 1800s? However, over time, the industry has gravitated away from CO2 toward lower pressure, synthetic refrigerants like Freon. But now that synthetic refrigerants are being phased out due to their negative environmental impacts, it’s time to take a renewed look at CO2 as a viable refrigerant alternative. Continue Reading “Why CO2 is a Viable Refrigerant Alternative”
The overwhelming majority of climate scientists not only believe in global warming, but believe human activity is to blame. Whether you personally believe this or not, government bodies do. Over the past 30 years, international and national regulatory agencies have responded with legislation that fosters a more sustainable planet. And the attempt to phase out harmful chemicals—including refrigerants—has been constant.
Continue Reading “The Evolution of the Refrigeration Environment”
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