Energy

Savings Case Study

Barry Drake, Chief Engineer at Maple

Leaf Foods in Kitchener, Ontario,
wasnt even looking for energy savings
when he agreed to test an ecoair
Rotation System in the refrigerated
Sliced Meat Room at his facility, but
thats what he gotand more.

refrigerated plant in Kitchener, they produce, package,

and distribute a variety of lunch meats, hams, wieners,
and sausages.

other unanticipated, though very welcome, benefits of

using an ecoair Rotation System.

of fresh and prepared meats. At their refrigerated plant

in Kitchener, they produce, package, and distribute a
variety of lunch meats, hams, wieners, and sausages. To

What We Did
On June 22just in time for the hot summer weather
we installed one of our EA-42 Rotation Systems in
Maple Leafs refrigerated Sliced Meat Room.

facility.

(Translation: We rolled the unit in and plugged it into

the nearest wall socket. Our patented design is plug and

In the Sliced Meat Room, a 13,000 ft2 refrigerated

play!)

space, Maple Leaf employees slice and package huge

volumes of meat every day. After each processing shift,

cleaning personnel thoroughly steam clean the room,

We then programmed 12 Tinytag data loggers to take

temperature and humidity measurements at 30-second

causing the temperature and humidity to spike.

As Barry explained, The goal was to cut down on my

temperature in all production areas of this massive

increased air circulation would have an impact on

the ammonia pipes. I have a 700,000+ ft2 facility

thats refrigerated. Condensation is a big issue.

keep the meat fresh, Maple Leaf carefully regulates the

13,000 square feet

humidity because I have condensation issues on all

Refrigeration Challenge
Maple Leaf Foods is one of Canadas leading producers

Size of Facility

humidity levels.

Maple Leaf Foods is one of Canadas leading

producers of fresh and prepared meats. At their

Throughout the testing period, Barry discovered some

About Maple Leaf Foods

intervals, and we placed them at floor, occupant, and

When the cleaning crew is done, the refrigeration

ceiling levels throughout the Sliced Meat Room. Over a

system works hard to bring the temperature back down

four-week period, we compiled temperature and

to a set point of 6C in time for the next production

humidity data with the ecoair Rotation System running

shift.

and switched off.

In June, 2011, Barry Drake invited us to install an ecoair

Rotation System in the Sliced Meat Room to see if

Finally, we charted data corresponding to peaks in

temperature greater than the room set point (6C) that

required a minimum of 20 minutes cooling time to

by this result. Of course, as Chief Engineer, he had no

achieve and maintain a temperature of 6C in the room

trouble understanding it:

for at least 20 minutes.

spots or stagnant areas, which is a big problem in

Tangible Results
Our ecoair Rotation System yielded three highly

facilities. Because the air is constantly moving,

youre able to more effectively heat or cool it.

valuable benefits for Maple Leaf:

At first glance, a 45-minute reduction in cooling time

per shift may not seem like much, but it adds up to

1. Energy Savings

more than 200 hours every year when the massive

With the ecoair Rotation System running, we returned

refrigeration system in the 13,000 ft2 Sliced Meat Room

the room to its set point temperature almost 50%

isnt running full-out. That is a very significant energy

savings.

faster.

You have air circulationThere are no hidden

What we found out is normally it would take us an

But the savings dont stop there. The reduction in

hour and a half to come back down in temperature

cooling time also extends the useful life of the

after cleaning. [With ecoair] we could come down in

refrigeration system, further saving the company on

45 minutes, said Barry, who was pleasantly surprised

repairs and new equipment.

2. Better Air Quality

Maple Leafs Kitchener plant is not only a meat processing
facility but also a packaging and distribution centre, so

there?

We would not have been able to hold

Barry has to be especially mindful of particulate from

temperature. Im confident of that absolutely

cardboard boxes.

This machine is wonderful.

The patented, reusable filtering system built into our unit

Were particularly proud of this achievement because

turned out to be a big plus for the engineer because it was

very few companies can honestly say, We saved

stellar at capturing airborne cardboard dust.

Maple Leafs bacon!

Barry observed,
For air purification, its great because it moves large
volumes of air at a slow speedIt removed an
unbelievable amount of dust particles from the air.

And what if the ecoair Rotation System hadnt been

Of course, cleaner air is better for the product and

healthier for the employees who work in the Sliced Meat
Room.

3. Less Downtime
At Maple Leaf, unscheduled shutdowns can be very
expensive, costing many thousands of dollars per day in
repairs and lost production time. Needless to say, Chief
Engineer Drake feels the heat when a refrigeration
problem shuts down the plant.

However, during the summer of 2011, Barry avoided costly

shutdowns on a couple of occasions when the cooling
system experienced equipment failures.

How did he do it? Just by running his ecoair Rotation

System.

As Barry recalled with obviously relief,

I was able to move the air, so I could keep the room
at temperature with two less evaporators, which is 12
tonnes of refrigeration.

Figure 2: Our ecoair Rotation Systems trap more

particles by moving air through the filters at very
low speed.

Chief Engineers Verdict

After operating an ecoair Rotation System for several
months in his refrigerated meat processing facility, Chief
Engineer Barry Drake assessed its performance like this:

Daily operation
The machine is quiet. You dont feel anything once it

gets up to speed and gets the air moving.

Upkeep

Overall
This is a great machineI know for a fact that I can
cool a room down after cleaning in half the timeIm
recommending it to everyone I talk to.

Thanks, Barry, for your kind words and tremendous

support at Maple Leaf Foods.

By the way, hows the processing team in the Sliced Meat

Room planning to use those four extra hours of
production time every week?

If you want to learn more about how we can

reduce the daily cost of cooling or heating your

Theres no maintenance to itWe just turn it on and

off.

How Much Can You Save?

industrial facility

1.877.440.7770 ext 701

www.surgicallycleanair.com

info@surgicallycleanair.com




Clean air. Safe workplace. Healthy people.