Primo Smallgoods is the largest producer of ham, bacon and smallgoods in Australia and it owns and operates abattoirs as well as food manufacturing and processing facilities and distribution warehouses.
The company, which has grown organically as well as by acquisition, sought to consolidate several smaller Primo production operations into a unified, efficient and custom-designed solution, so it embarked on the construction of a multi-million dollar integrated smallgoods processing plant.
The development, located at Wacol in Brisbane, was to include process areas able to produce up to 1800 tonnes of smallgoods per week on a double shift with amenities for 600 workers.
Wiley, an engineering, design and construction company specialising in food facilities, was contracted to plan, design and construct the plant.
Included in the $136 million project was the construction of a 10,566-pallet freezer for the storage of meat products used in the manufacture of Primo products and a 7656-pallet distribution chiller for the storage, picking and distribution of finished products.
Wiley was also tasked with constructing a process and production building and an administration building, but due to the scale of the project, the facility was delivered in two stages, with stage one focusing on cold storage and distribution.
When it came to this first phase, Primo laid out some specific requirements. The company wanted an energy-efficient refrigeration system that would provide it with the lowest possible carbon footprint and minimal greenhouse impact without compromising operational requirements.
Primo also required safe floor conditions for forklifts working at height, and the company wanted to eliminate subfloor freezing in the freezer building.
Stage one was delivered by Wiley over 12 months, and was completed on schedule by September 2012, just in time to cater for Christmas season demand for hams and smallgoods.
In the process, Wiley provided a number of innovative and environmental solutions, including an energy-saving cold storage lighting solution which also reduces the heat load.
Traditional cold storage lighting uses significant energy and creates heat, which increases ambient room temperatures and makes the cooling system work harder, according to Wiley’s project director, Graham Harvey.
“Our team investigated two international light emitting diode (LED) manufacturers, then tested and developed a custom-made LED fitting solution,” he said.
The energy-efficient refrigeration system includes an innovative sub-system that collects and recycles condensate from various process areas in the facility for reuse in the refrigeration plant.
“Frost builds on the fan coil units during operation,” Harvey said. “When these are defrosted, the condensate and run-off moisture created is collected and recycled via specially installed lines, back to the refrigeration plant for use in the cooling towers.”
Wiley also delivered a waste heat energy system generated from the closed-loop refrigeration gas cooling circuit to heat the hydronic system, which in turn prevents sub-floor frost heave in the freezer floors.
“A plate heat exchanger installed near the condensers re-uses the waste heat from the refrigeration system, which reduced the cooling required through the condensers and eliminated the need for heat generation specifically for the hydronic system,” Harvey said.
A 10 per cent glycol and water mix is reticulated through pipework installed within the structural slab of the freezer building, with the flow to each area controlled locally through several manifolds located adjacent to each freezer. By controlling the temperature of this slab, the potential for moisture in the sub-grade to freeze is eliminated and prevents frost heave from occurring.
The company also achieved significantly increased freezer pallet storage and pick face requirements within site constraints, while maximising available production floor area and future expansion capabilities.
According to Harvey, this was done by designing the new space to reduce forklift access space to storage racking, thus reducing the building footprint. This cut the space needed in the freezer building freezer rooms and the chiller building freezer room by a quarter.
“To achieve this we had to design for the use of wire-guided very narrow aisle (VNA) forklifts that could operate within a pallet width,” Harvey said.
“This required the further design and construction of super-flat floors for stable operation of forklifts at high speeds and extended heights.”
Finally, Wiley also created an innovative system to recycle captured rainwater for use in the refrigeration cooling towers.
Since construction was completed in September 2012, the design and innovation of the facility has been recognised with a number of industry awards.
These include the 2013 Australian Institute of Building Excellence in Building National Awards for Professional Builder of the Year and for research, development and technology; the 2013 Australian Institute of Project Management Project achievement award for a construction/engineering project worth over $100 million; and the 2013 Queensland Master Builders’ Brisbane Regional Awards for an industrial building over $5 million and for innovation in environmental management.
The cold facts
The refrigeration solution optimises a single main loop of -13°C and +20°C return only on the primary gantry, with tempered loops to run on the secondary gantry.
The primary cooling source selected was ammonia, as it met key ESD criteria of zero ODP, zero GWP and low carbon footprint. This refrigerant conditions a secondary coolant of propylene glycol which is safer for workers and for introduction into food processing areas with low environmental impact.
The system is fully operated by PLC control, with user-friendly HMI and SCADA with remote from base dial-in and control.
Eco-friendly elements
- An energy-saving cold storage lighting solution reduces the heat load.
- An energy-efficient refrigeration system includes a sub-system for the collection and recycling of condensate from various process areas in the facility for reuse in the refrigeration plant.
- Use of waste heat energy generated from the closed-loop refrigeration gas cooling circuit is used to heat the hydronic system, which in turn prevents sub-floor frost heave in the freezer floor.
- A special system captures rainwater to supply the refrigeration cooling towers.
