Air curtains overcome cold-store warming
Air curtains are normally installed to keep the cold out, but the requirement was reversed at Cannington Cold Stores at Bridgewater, where Airbloc air curtains keep the cold in. Cannington stores fruit-juice concentrates and fresh foods for clients that supply a worldwide market. Its extensive storage facilities include chilled stores (2 to 10°C) and frozen stores that can blast or gradually freeze down to –25°C. Up to a hundred articulated lorries load or unload into the storage buildings each day. High-speed up-and-over doors on the 2400 m2 chilled store for 2700 pallets were expensive to maintain and often broke down. With each opening and closing, the closely regulated temperature in the building was compromised. The 1350 m2 frozen store had a remote-controlled door, but the temperature rise when the door opened was difficult and energy-intensive to recover. An Airbloc AB overdoor air curtain was installed above the doorway to each building to give operative free access at all times and high visibility. There is no risk of damage from fork-lift trucks or the mechanical failure associated with roller shutter doors in constant use. Mike Roe, managing director of Cannington Cold stores, says, ‘There is no maintenance to worry about, the temperature in the stores stays the same, and our men are a lot happier to work with the hassle-free air curtains. At the same time, we are making energy savings, which can only benefit the business.’
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