AKO Advanced controller for optimizing Cold Rooms

AKOCORE Advance is a controller for cold room developed by AKO Group, capable of controlling loads of up to 2CV through its five relays, managing all the loads in the cold room (compressor, valve, fans, defrost, drainage resistor, door, lights, etc.), optimising electricity consumption, product conservation and extending the operating life of the facility.

A typical issue with advanced regulation systems is the complexity related to their parameterization, with often more than 50 parameters to adjust. This scenario usually leads to mistakes during commissioning, and/or long commissioning processes, besides several interventions on the following days to ease the malfunctions while fine-tuning the controller.

AKOCORE Advance is configured by only 2 parameters and includes the SELF-DRIVE algorithm, which autonomously manages the cold room, adapting at all times to how it is used and its environmental conditions, in search of a global optimization.

• Positive and negative cold room stores
• Management of defrosts via air, electric or hot gas, and up to two independent evaporators
• Valid as integral panel (condensing unit and evaporator management), or service panel (solenoid and evaporator management)

Fast, simple and error-free installation:
• It only needs two NTC probes (ambient and evaporation), which makes it quick, simple and also economical.
• You only need to adjust two settings, thereby avoiding programming errors and later fine-tuning of settings.
• It has 5 2CV power relays to handle all cold room loads; it is not necessary to mount an additional power contactor box.

Improves Product Conservation:
• Considerably increases the Set-point range time, leading to better conservation of the stored product.
Lower Maintenance Costs:
• It avoids ice from forming in the evaporator—one of the most common reasons for system stoppages, which leads to further costs and necessary steps.
• It means the compressor has to be activated less often, does not have to keep running for so long, and extends the working life of what is the most expensive part of the system, plus it reduces mechanical stress, which is one of the main causes for gas leaks.
• It reduces the number and lengths of defrosts, reducing the thermal stress on the evaporator, and therefore the risk of gas leaks.

Reduces Energy Consumption:
• Energy consumption in the cold room store can be brought down considerably by reducing compressor and defrost times, and by preventing sudden temperature changes due to defrosting.
• It has an Open Door alarm to encourage responsible use of the cold storeroom.
Importantly, it also includes a self-diagnostic system to alert about any problem on the installation, so if there is not enough delta-T, for instance, the controller will alert about this fact, and will automatically switch to Parametric mode until the incident gets solved. In other words, the cold room never stops controlling refrigeration if incidents occur.