AWES BOC POLARSTREAM Niliva In Transit Refrigeration • Monty Rapson,
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transport manger at mushroom grower Chesswood Produce, is equally enthusiastic following a one-month trial with the system. He now runs five second-hand BOC trailers and, while still costing the system after just five months use, believes BCC's maintenance prediction of £100 per year for his fleet is fair. "I wasn't totally happy with diesel,he says. "We were getting some frost burn which can turn the edges brown. The nitrogen system is kinder. And there is the environmental considerations — we off-load next to houses."
The Chesswood fleet delivers throughout England and Rapson is confident the trucks will be able to reach Scotland without any problem. Mushrooms only require 5C of chill, but the system has to work quite hard as they continue to grow and produce heat after picking.
Unlike some food producers, Chesswood had no ready supply of nitrogen. Storage tank, a concrete base to put it on, plus a fence to go round all had to be installed. The trucks only deliver one way, so there are no rerefueling problems.
o Other Green developments, such as the production of cfc free refrigerants, is coming on apace according to some of the reefer equipment manufacturers.
Thermo King Europe and its Petter subsidiary plan to introduce modified fridges and new ICI refrigerants within the next few months.
Business development manager Joseph Grealy says that 0.5 (HCFC22) and zero (11134A) ODP (Ozone Depletion factor) grade refrigerants are now in production. Design changes have also been made to compressors to compensate for wanner gases entering the unit when working on the coldest loads.
The changes are pushing up prices, but "they won't be horrendous", he says. 0 by Danny Coughlan