Boilers vs. Direct-Fire vs. Glycol: Water Heating Systems to Consider for Food and Beverage Plants

As explained in this previous post, food processing operations require substantial energy. While utility costs are unavoidable, various factors can enhance efficiency and achieve long-term cost savings, including a facility’s water heating system. Considering your production specifications and overall environment, there are specific systems available that can effectively minimize energy consumption in your food or beverage production. Thus, it’s important to explore these systems and understand their differences. So, what are these systems, and how do they vary from one another?

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5 Common Oversights in Industrial Refrigeration Compressor Maintenance (and How to Combat Them)

Compressors play a vital role in industrial refrigeration systems, serving as indispensable components. As time passes, both compressors and their bearings undergo degradation, posing a potential threat of facility downtime and consequent negative impact on your financial performance. To guarantee the consistent and efficient operation of this equipment, the implementation of a rigorous maintenance program becomes imperative.

Staying on top (or even ahead) of maintenance will prolong the compressor’s life and avoid a shutdown. In fact, 82% of manufacturing companies have experienced unplanned downtime, costing as much as $260,000 an hour, according to one study

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Choosing the Right Oil-Cooling Method for Your Industrial Refrigeration Compressor

As any industrial engineer will tell you, screw compressors play a vital role in the food and beverage industry, where temperature control is critical to ensure product safety and quality. 

They’ll also tell you that these compressors require a lot of oil to work properly. This oil serves several functions, including sealing the rotors, lubricating the bearings and cooling the discharge gas. Because of this, nearly all food processors and beverage manufacturers will be in the market for a refrigeration compressor rebuild or replacement at some point or another. 

And while regular maintenance can help, designing a system with the proper oil-cooling technique can also extend a compressor’s lifespan by thousands of operating hours — but how do you determine what method makes the most sense for your system?

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5 Energy Conservation Strategies for Food and Beverage Plants

A food processing operation requires more energy than some may realize. Unless you’re the plant owner paying the electricity bill, you might not have considered how much energy is needed to keep things running. Food production (agriculture, transportation, processing and handling) accounts for nearly 20% of all fossil fuel use in the United States, and 16% of that energy is used for food processing alone.

While utility costs are inevitable, there are strategies to make food and beverage plants more efficient and save money in the long run — though they often require an upfront investment. Energy savings are a long-term payback; it’s important to keep that in mind when building a plant or modifying a current one. 

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The Advantages of Using BIM for Project Cost Estimating

Building information modeling (BIM) technology is a revolutionary tool used by architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) professionals. It improves overall project collaboration and communication across disciplines by transforming 2D paper-and-pencil concepts into virtual 3D models that decision-makers and end-users can interact with.

When renovating or designing a new food and beverage facility, one of BIM’s most beneficial applications is its ability to define scope in detail.

It’s difficult to determine exact cost estimates early in a project due to supply chain volatility, material costs, labor wage rates, site conditions and other variables. However, BIM software’s granular capabilities can significantly improve the accuracy of those forecasts and track decision impacts throughout the process.

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Building a Food Plant: 5 Ways to Prevent Schedule Delays

The food and beverage design-build process demands attention to detail and a high level of expertise to navigate a maze of regulations, adhere to strict food safety guidelines, stay within budget and guarantee the facility is well-equipped to meet long-term production goals.

Effectively coordinating different disciplines, vendors and subcontractors to ensure timely and on-budget execution is an ongoing challenge in construction projects that requires careful planning and communication. 

As an owner, you’re in the driver’s seat and play a pivotal role in the overall success of the project. Here are some key things you can do to support your design and construction teams and help streamline the process.

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How to Write Better Electrical Specifications for Food Manufacturing Equipment

There are certain performance expectations your food processing equipment should meet to maximize your return on investment (ROI). Failing to establish and standardize equipment specifications (specs) during the procurement process can directly impact your plant’s safety, sanitation, efficiency and profitability.

You may be thinking, “But Michael, I already have a specs list written out, and it’s worked perfectly for us so far.” And that may be true! However, in my experience, many small- and mid-sized companies have room to improve in this area. 

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7 Best Practices for Designing a Clean-in-Place System

A clean-in-place (CIP) system is a cost-effective and time-saving tool that rinses and washes the inside surfaces of food processing piping and equipment without mechanical disassembly. When designed well, a CIP system improves sanitation and enhances food safety while both simplifying the cleaning process for plant operators and reducing downtime. It automates what has traditionally been a laborious and time-consuming manual process of disassembling the piping, hand-cleaning each component and reassembling equipment.

In addition to lost revenue from halted production, improperly cleaned equipment can spread foodborne contaminants from batch to batch, which is dangerous to consumers and can lead to recalls that directly impact a company’s bottom line and reputation.

If you’re considering investing in a CIP system for your facility, it’s important to ensure you’re getting a design that is reliable and up-to-date. Your process design team should consider the overall needs of your operation, including changeover efficiency, water conservation and how the design will affect the complexity of the system.

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Industrial Refrigeration Basics: Synthetic vs. Natural Refrigerants

Operable refrigerant systems have been in use since the 1830s, with ether as the original refrigerant. Over the years, the use of refrigerants has evolved as technology has advanced and research has revealed more about the impacts these substances have on the environment. 

New restrictions continue to be placed on the use of refrigerants, making it more important than ever for manufacturers, as well as commercial and industrial owners, to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and changes.

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Think You Know BIM? Think Again: How Building Information Modeling Boosts Sustainability

A sustainable revolution is underway and industrial/commercial buildings in the U.S. are lagging behind. Almost a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come directly from industrial sources, such as manufacturing, food processing, mining and construction, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES).

“If direct and indirect emissions are combined, the industrial sector is the largest emitting sector in the U.S. economy, responsible for 29.6% of total emissions,” according to data provided by C2ES.

While you may be familiar with Building Information Modeling (BIM), it’s often underestimated and pigeonholed as merely a design and construction tool. However, when implemented strategically, BIM is the key to turning industrial facilities into long-term sustainability powerhouses and providing transparency and a sense of order to what has historically been a nebulous process.

A building’s design, construction and operation produce data that comprise a complex puzzle — BIM helps solve it.

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