Tag
When deciding on refrigerant piping for your food processing facility, you’re faced with two major options: carbon steel or stainless. While carbon steel, or black pipe, is the industry standard, stainless is a far better investment for your food manufacturing plant due to lifetime costs, maintenance and durability. Continue Reading “Why Stainless Refrigerant Piping is a Better Investment Than Carbon Steel”
After receiving over 20,000 comments, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently amended several previously proposed rules for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), including the Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC) for Human Food rule. To address food safety from the beginning, the proposed HARPC rule requires preventative measures be taken at food processing facilities. While the FDA is currently accepting comments on the update, the December 15 deadline is rapidly approaching.
Continue Reading “Comment Deadline Approaching for Proposed HARPC FSMA Amendment”
As the second highest energy consuming component of your refrigeration system, condensers are also one of the most critical elements. Knowing how to optimize your condenser can increase operational performance while reducing energy usage and maintenance costs.
Continue Reading “Six Factors That Can Improve Condenser Performance”
I recently sat down with Jack Perkins, Director of Channel Development for Powerit Solutions®, to discuss ways the food and beverage industry can benefit from energy management technology. Stellar often partners with energy experts such as Powerit Solutions to provide clients with a full range of tools to increase energy efficiency.
Continue Reading “A Conversation With Powerit Solutions® About Energy Management Technology”
As product lines become more diverse due to increased demand in specialty ingredients in multiple sized packages with private labeling, manual processes become both costly and time consuming. Many food processing plant managers are recognizing the benefits of automating previously manual processes to increase production and reduce labor costs.
Continue Reading “Automate These Three Processes to Increase Throughput”
The food and beverage industry today is all about consumer demand and meeting preferences for tastes, specialty ingredients and preparations (such as non-GMO, Kosher and gluten-free), flexible packaging, and convenient serving sizes.
Take the coffee industry for example: One customer wants a special blend in a light roast with a medium grind. Another customer wants a different blend in a dark roast with a fine grind. You can do the math and see the exponential impact of the options. Every variation creates a unique SKU for the coffee producer.
Continue Reading “Tips for Managing Multiple SKUs to Meet Customer Demands”
Equipment manufacturers play a key role in the food safety program of a food processing plant, ensuring that equipment is designed and built to meet stringent sanitary requirements. Plant owners often spend significant time and money to acquire the right equipment with the proper sanitary construction. Yet once that equipment is designed and delivered, the next critical step is ensuring that it’s installed properly, within those same sanitary standards. If you do not carefully screen installation subcontractors, you could put your plant at risk of a food safety issue.
Continue Reading “Sanitary Process Installation: What to Ask When Selecting a Subcontractor”
Food processors and distributors are under constant pressure to produce more while spending less on operations. For plant owners looking for greener and more efficient secondary refrigerants, a carbon dioxide (CO2)/ammonia (NH3) cascade system is a viable option. In addition to providing 0 ozone depletion potential (ODP) and 1 global warming potential (GWP), CO2/NH3 cascade systems offer several benefits for food processing and low-temp distribution facilities including:
Continue Reading “Six Reasons to Consider a CO2/NH3 Cascade Refrigeration System”
European countries are at the forefront of efforts to reduce the use of industrial refrigerants that harm the ozone layer and lead to global warming. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, called for phasing out the use of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) like Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs).
Continue Reading “Europe is Shaping the Industry in the Utilization of Natural Refrigerants”
As R22 refrigerants are being phased out, many food processing facilities are re-evaluating their industrial refrigerants due to environmental concerns, legislative requirements and cost efficiency. In selecting a long-term refrigerant, it is important to consider your system’s requirements and the operational considerations / limitations of each refrigerant. Equally important are the refrigerant’s safety, impact on the environment, and performance. Continue Reading “Pros and Cons of Popular Industrial Refrigerants”
