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Freemans invests in Air Products cryogenic
technology to transform chilling process
27th October 2003 — Poultry processor Freemans
of Newent has experienced major growth since it was established
in 1958. At its outset, the family firm processed 100 birds
a week, a figure that has now risen to 250,000 - 300,000,
thanks to an ongoing commitment to provide its customers
with an extensive range of quality products and continuous
investment in efficient process equipment.
Of all processes in the poultry processing operation, chilling
is one of the most critical to ensure a safe, flavoursome
and well-textured product. It is also a stage, as Freemans
discovered, that can considerably slow down or speed up
production capacity - and impact profits - depending on
the method used.
Improving the chilling process
Freemans, as with the majority of UK poultry processors,
had traditionally employed mechanical air cooling to chill
a high volume of whole chickens. However, as managing director
Clifford Freeman explains, using this system for the entire
chilling process was proving inefficient and costly:
"Our existing air cooling system was a time consuming
method of chilling that slowed down our operation dramatically,
reducing overall production capacity. For our business,
this was unacceptable. While mechanical chilling is fine
for cooling the product from 40º C to 10º C, we
needed to find a new approach to chilling from 10º
C down to 1º C that enabled us to optimise production
rates, without comprising our long-held reputation for safety
and quality."
Identifying the perfect solution to this challenge proved
simpler than anticipated. For the last year, global chemical
and gases supplier Air Products had been working with the
company, providing Modified Atmospheric Packaging (MAP)
to ensure its poultry products reach customers safely packaged
and in optimum condition.
Ensuring this process is carefully implemented on-site
requires regular visits from Air Products' representatives,
which had created a close relationship between the two companies.
It was during one of these visits that Air Products suggested
the answer to Freeman's chilling needs: the installation
of a Freshline® vortice gas-flow technology (VT) cryogenic
tunnel.
Air Products has been leading the way in delivering cryogenic
freezing and chilling technology to the food sector for
over 35 years and, during this time, has developed particular
expertise in the poultry processing industry. Utilising
the extreme cold temperature of liquid nitrogen, Air Products'
cryogenic tunnel systems work fast, providing improved production
capacity, yields and product quality with lower start-up
costs and space requirements when compared to traditional
methods.
The cryogenic answer
Steve Drury, Technical Service Manager, at Air Products
says: "As soon as we heard Freemans' requirements we
knew we could offer a solution that would not merely partially
replace its existing technology: it would result in dramatically
improved performance at a lower cost. After explaining these
advantages, Freemans made the decision to install our system
and, immediately, we began trials to produce the ideal Freshline®
specification for their particular set of challenges."
Cryogenic technology, while in common use for portioned
chicken products, is a relatively new method for chilling
whole chickens. During the system trial, Air Products had
two main issues to address: firstly, ensuring the chickens
did not stick to the tunnel conveyor, causing damage on
exit and, secondly, eliminating the possibility of the product
becoming overly-chilled, causing surface freezing.
Through undertaking some product trials, experts at Air
Products soon found the ideal cryogenic solution to take
the temperature of the chickens - still chilled mechanically
from 40º C to 10º C - down to the required temperature
of 1º C.
Using the easy to control tunnel they swiftly identified
the ideal temperature profile to reduce sticking, while
chilling the product down to 1oC in a two minute cycle.
Any surface freezing was prevented by carefully angling
the liquid nitrogen spray into the gas stream generated
by the turbulence fans inside the Freshline® tunnel.
By avoiding direct contact of the liquid nitrogen onto the
product, the surface only comes into contact with very cold
gas, minimizing any surface freezing.
"We overcome both of our concerns thanks to the flexibility
of the Freshline® system," explains Steve. "Over
our many years' experience within the food industry, we've
had to develop bespoke cryogenic solutions for a huge variety
of products and manufacturing circumstances and we pride
ourselves on our proven ability to do this successfully."
Following this intensive trialling and in close liaison
with Freemans, Air Products installed a 10 metre-long Freshline®
tunnel at the processor's Newent site. But, as Steve explains,
Air Products' involvement is far more extensive than product
installation:
"At Air Products, we not only supply the tunnel, we
design and fit the necessary pipework and nitrogen storage
tanks, as well as deliver the gas. We also provide all on-going
maintenance to ensure our customers are completely satisfied
and that our expertise continues to support their business
requirements and increase efficiency."
Looking to the future
The implementation of cryogenic technology has been a successful
undertaking for Freemans of Newent - and the company is
considering installing additional tunnels as they continue
to expand. "Since the installation of this system we
now have the capability to safely chill 8000 whole chickens
every hour," says Clifford Freeman. "We're very
pleased with the results and feel that our decision to invest
in cryogenic technology was, and will continue to be, of
great benefit to our company."
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