Page 77 - SA Fruit Journal VOLUME 14

ADVERTORIALOperational efficiency drastically improves at Betko’s new cold storage facilityVilliersdorp’s Betko, increases pallet storage capacity tenfold and triples operational efficiency after appointing GEA Project Solutions (a division of GEA Refrigeration Africa) to design and manage the construction of its new state-of-the-art cold storage facilities.Situated in the heart of South Africa’s pome fruit production area, Betko has grown exponentially over the past 25 yearsand has become a prominent name in the fruit export industry. Now, courtesy of their newly completed facility, specifically de- signed to improve operational efficiency, Betko can accommodate the cooling and dis- tribution of more than 300 pallets per day.To achieve this Betko entrusted the de- sign and project management of fifteen new purpose-designed 44-pallet pull-down tun- nels and two new holding stores with approxi- mately 1 300 pallet positions per room to GEA Project Solutions. The facility includes dedi- cated dispatch facilities with three electro-hy- draulic docking levellers, an additional load- ing platform and new management offices.GEA Refrigeration Africa designed a pump re-circulated liquid ammonia coolingHigh efficiency pull-down tunnels with steri functionality.system that was tied into the existing Plant Room #2. To cope with the added refrigera- tion load an additional Grasso screw com- pressor package, evaporative condenser and accumulator vessel were installed.The new facility needed to be constructed on a site adjacent to Betko’s existing facility, but could not interfere with existing flows and operations.Wiekus Venter, Manager at GEA Project Solutions, comments: “The limited available space required careful planning and consid- eration. Optimising the costs of site works and maintaining existing product and traffic flows was critical. Since the electrical supply had to be drawn from two different Eskom sub-preventing punitive billing when one sub-station’s supply is over-used”.GEA Projects strives to include as many “green” design attributes within their designsPROMOSIE74 FEB | MAART 2015