New Compact Freezer on R-449A Lowers Food Manufacturing Costs

A new moving-belt cycle/blast freezer leveraging BITZER Ecoline compressors on R-449A helps food manufacturers boost production in limited spaces while ensuring top-notch cooling performance, energy efficiency, and reliability.

David Thirtle AirCon and Refrigeration Ltd redesigned traditional bulky industrial freezers to create this compact solution, resolving accommodation and maintenance challenges. The British-designed BBF500 employs advanced cycle crust freezing technology for rapid and uniform freezing, suitable for various food products like seafood, meat, cheese, and bakery items.

Components are primarily sourced from the UK and assembled in Cambridgeshire and Tredegar, Wales, making spare parts readily available and maintenance cost-effective. The first units have been deployed at a leading meat processor in Wales, a supplier to national UK supermarkets.

The BBF500 boasts a capacity of up to 500kg per hour and integrates with standard food preparation machines for seamless production. It supports product and process temperatures between -25 and -42 degrees Celsius and features a Siemens controller for precise belt speed adjustments. The stainless-steel unit, designed to endure industrial environments, measures H 2.41m x L 2.4m x W 2.2m and includes a 900mm wide moving belt. Custom variants are available upon request.

Two higher-capacity models, the BBF800 and BBF1200, are under development, with outputs of 780kg and 1200kg per hour, respectively. A collaboration with BITZER UK is also in progress to create a CO2-based version aimed at minimizing Global Warming Potential (GWP), expected to be available by year-end. Additionally, a retrofit solution to convert HFC/HFO-based freezers to CO2 is being developed.

David Thirtle affirmed the reliability and engineering excellence of BITZER compressors, crucial for high-volume food production, and praised the support and technical innovations from BITZER UK. Kevin Glass, Managing Director of BITZER UK, commented on the significant space-saving and serviceability benefits of the new freezer, highlighting the upcoming CO2 version's environmental advancements.