Discharge pressure needs to be maintained to deliver liquid refrigerant to the evaporators and overcome pressure drops and gravity, many evaporators can be 9 M high with long pipe runs which causes liquid delivery problems.

Liquid Pressure Amplification overcomes these problems.

Founded by Josiah Oliver Sims in 1896, J.O.Sims are the No1 supplier of cranberry and wild blueberry ingredients in the UK also farming over 1500 acres of fresh apple, cherry, peach, nectarine and apricot orchards. Providing packing, handling, storage and distribution services of both a comprehensive range of fresh and dried fruit produce to internal and third party customers from its ideally positioned site in Spalding, Lincolnshire.

Throughout their history J.O.Sims have adopted a long term approach, this extends to environmental issues, where reducing their carbon footprint is seen as a clear priority.

With 80% of site energy being consumed by refrigeration at their Spalding facility, Sims approached specialist refrigeration company Excalibur LPA Ltd who surveyed the site and produced a report, which estimated that the efficiency of the refrigeration systems in their 75,000 ft2 coldstore could be improved by 30 – 40%.

The Excalibur proposal recommended the installation of Liquid Pressure Amplification and Inverter speed control of the condenser fans, in simple terms this solution allows the difference between evaporating and condensing temperatures to be reduced, In this case by up to 20 degree c (every 1 degree reduction improves efficiency by 2-4%).

As approved suppliers Excalibur were also able to apply for J.O.Sims to receive an interest free loan from the Carbon Trust to undertake the project.

A pilot installation was undertaken by Excalibur to the first of four refrigeration packs, following commissioning the effect of the modifications could be seen immediately, the improvement in efficiency allowed the coldstore to recover temperatures quicker while energy consumption dropped by 48% representing an annual cost reduction of £10,000 and 79 fewer tonnes of carbon emitted every year.

Following the success of this project the remaining systems are being modified, the completed project will have reduced energy consumption by 500,000 kwh / year, and carbon emissions by over 270 tonnes.

Operations Director Darren Crook commented “not only were the improvements in efficiency immediate and measurable, but previously it

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