Meat chilling industries in Australia are profitable ventures. With Covid 19 wrecking havoc across industries around the globe, meat-chilling plants are looking for ways to stay operational with Covid norms in mind.  Energy efficiency and efficient management are top goals for such plants.

With the right tips to take guidance from, these plants can save huge amounts on overheads as well as save energy in respect of relevant local norms. Ensure the right pvc strip curtain in the plant to ensure efficiency on a better scale.

Deal with Refrigeration

  • Refrigeration is the first thing to look into. Energy management programs must see implementation throughout every operational part of plants. The management must ensure implementation seamlessly. 
  • Refrigeration fuels the main operation of the meat chilling business. The maximum electricity consumption can be accounted for with proper refrigeration monitoring. You can typically save around 70 percent of costs if the systems get optimized.

Invest in Optimization

  • Optimizing resources make savings a practical outcome. Ensure you get thorough with the documentation of refrigeration units in the plant. This will make you stay assured that all supply lines have the right voltage supply.  
  • Get familiar with the equipment and components in the refrigeration unit. Match up these with the relevant documentation instructions for smooth operations. Once these aspects are clear to you, energy savings will only be a natural output.

Track the Bills

Even though you get comfortable with the operations of the meat chilling unit you have installed, keep a tab on the bills regularly. This way to understand the exact units being consumed. Additionally, you can plan sub-meter installations to take offloads. Individual smaller units can be relegated to sub-meters. This step will lower down costs effectively while ensuring energy efficiency.

Energy Loggers to Rescue

Investing in energy loggers will help you ensure that the meat chilling plant is energy efficient. This also helps you stay in accordance with local energy regulations. There are a number of related equipment in the main plant that you must monitor. These include—but are not limited to—

  • Compressor units
  • Condenser units
  • Evaporator units
  • Defrost heater systems
  • Lighting pump units

You might have to track and relate all energy consumption. This will help you identify and monitor problem units in the meat plant. You will also gain an idea about the opportunities to ensure cost savings.

Check the Process Performance Involved

The current processes and the related performance needs daily monitoring for you to decide to replace outdated machinery. Especially, when you need to install the latest refrigeration or initiate modifications, you have to check if the current performances are optimal. The problem area might be somewhere else while you assume refrigeration to be the culprit. Begin with inspecting carcass chillers—these are heavy-duty consumers in such plants.

Keep Record of Specific Values

Plant owners or operation managers must have handy information on the readings for –

  • Air temperature
  • Chiller’s relative humidity
  • Surface temperature
  • Deep leg temperature
  •  Air speed in chiller
  • Carcass weight put in chillers

Weekly record-keeping and comparisons are needed for ensuring energy efficiency.

Dig into Usage Pattern

On a daily basis, maintain a record of daily usage of energy across the production cycles in the meat plant. You need to understand the main features of the cycle first. Check for the lowest periods of consumption and mark the highest too. Collate relevant reasons as to why these figures show up at all.

ConclusionDecommission outdated inventory and keep all coil units optimized to the best performance level. Check for blockages and get them corrected—especially in relation to the condensers. Reduce opening of doors during the chilling processes to ensure energy efficiency. Keep the factory insulation at the optimal scale. The right observations clubbed with timely maintenance ensure lower costs and higher efficiency in meat chilling units, without a doubt.