Plant Services - September 2007 - (Page 46) efrigeration is one of the more energy-intensive technologies used in domestic manufacturing operations – primarily food plants. From an energy perspective, the trend in many food plants is toward processes that require more, not less, refrigeration, thereby escalating overall energy requirements. For example, food companies are responding to consumer demand by increasing the supply of frozen ready-to-cook entrees and sides. ese products often require quick-freezing unit operations to maintain high product quality. Quick freezing unit operations are among the most energy-intensive in food plants, which increases the total energy required to produce a unit of finished product. Just as plant refrigeration processes are demanding more energy, plant operations professionals are pushing to reduce overall energy consumption in their manufacturing operations. Why? Because indications are that the future cost of energy will continue to rise. So it’s increasingly important for plants to improve operational efficiency to maintain a competitive marketplace advantage. ese trends put pressure on plant operations staff to identify effective measures to level or reduce the energy consumption in manufacturing. Strategies for improving the efficiency of industrial refrigeration systems are available for all to adopt. Seemingly a simple order, improving energy efficiency in these systems is difficult for a number of reasons: 46 .PLANTSERVICES. S http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com
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