As environmental sustainability becomes a priority across industries, potato processors are increasingly seeking freezing technologies that reduce energy consumption and minimize waste. New advancements in freezer design address these concerns by incorporating energy-efficient components, such as variable-speed compressors and fans, as well as improved insulation materials that reduce heat transfer.

In addition to using the latest technologies and upgraded systems, many manufacturers are also exploring the use of eco-friendly refrigerants to reduce the carbon footprint of their operations. Ammonia and carbon dioxide are increasingly being used as alternatives to traditional synthetic refrigerants, which are known to have high global warming potential (GWP).

Moreover, upstream and downstream processes are carefully considered, in order to achieve an overall production line efficiency.

Freezer equipment design is vital for food safety, optimum performance throughout production, and energy savings, especially when handling massive quantities of French fries. Additionally, the right equipment can significantly reduce downtimes with fast, efficient cleaning factored in.

GEA, a leading technology provider to the food sector has more than 160 of its French fry freezer tunnels operating worldwide and recently conducted extensive research and development into significantly improving the sustainability and energy consumption in industrial freezing equipment.

A typical IQF (Individual Quick Freezing) tunnel, as supplied by technology specialists such as GEA, is composed of different temperature zones to successively decrease the product temperature from +95°C to +50°C in pre-cool sections, +50°C to +10°C in refrigerated sections and finally +10°C to -15°C in freezing sections.

For each step, a specific solution was designed and implemented to reduce energy consumption:

For the initial pre-cool step, the compression refrigeration system is replaced by free cooling, utilizing a thermosyphon system to cool the air.

The water pre-cool step is also free-cooling and circulates plant water through heat exchangers to provide cooling capacity and save energy in the plant water heating system.

The freezing section temperature set point is controlled with the Callifreeze system which continuously measures the product‘s frozen quality and adjusts freezer parameters according to set targets with minimum energy consumption.

GEA recently obtained a certification of CO2 emission reduction for its French fry IQF tunnel freezer with Water Pre-cool as a result of a proven 22% to 57% drop in CO2 emissions depending on the country and conditions therein.

As we know, any type of food can be frozen but the quality of the end product is what really counts. The key criterion is the ability to continuously monitor the product’s frozen state at freezer exit and automatically adjust freezer conditions when needed. This ensures that the products leave the freezer at the expected frozen quality. In addition to the CO2 emission reduction, when applied to the French fry tunnel freezer, the Callifreeze control system leads to a minimum 9% energy saving on refrigeration system consumption.

For those processors aiming for high throughput with reduced downtime, GEA IQF tunnel freezers can run comfortably for 21 consecutive days. The freezers are designed with high performance frost management systems including sequential defrost and unmatched automated controlled air balance system, reducing the need for frequent stops for defrost and cleaning.

To read the complete article, please refer to our latest September–October 2024 print issue of Potato Processing International.