With almost 2000 employees, Kraft Foods Nordic is the leading Nordic supplier of chocolate, snacks, food and coffee with brands like Freia, Marabou, Daim, Japp, Twist, Kraft and Philadelphia.
At the chocolate factory for Marabou, north of Stockholm in Sweden, confectionery products are being produced, stored and distributed to European customers. At the automated store 160,000 pallets are handled each year.
In 1984 a Munters MA25000 desiccant dehumidifier was installed at Kraft’s 50,000m3 automated chill store to prevent condensation issues,
- to avoid hygienic issues like mould, chocolate bloom
- to protect packaging against softening and
- to keep the product quality high during the whole storage period
The climate in the store is controlled and verified daily, keeping conditions strictly at +5°C/55%RH. Under these conditions the products keep their original quality and freshness, with no product waste due to humidity experienced at all.
The most common issue when handling chocolate is “chocolate bloom”, experienced by consumers as a whitish cast. This problem occurs either when sugar crystallizes on the surface because of high humidity after condensation or when the cold product is moved into warm surroundings and cocoa fat crystallizes in pure form on the surface.
Before distributing the goods from Kraft to customers, the products are moved to another store at 15°C/60% for one weeks conditioning before loading into trucks, thus preventing condensation occurring when cold products are placed into warmer trucks.
Energy consumption is a key issue for Kraft. At their manufacturing sites great efforts are being made to reduce energy consumption, waste products, emissions etc, in close cooperation with all employees and suppliers. A goal of reducing energy consumption by 35% over 3 years is now close to being fulfilled.
As a part of this plan all dehumidification plants at their factories were surveyed and energy efficiency improvements made. At the Upplands Väsby factory the 24 year old dehumidifier still worked, although after years of wear and tear the rotor (drying wheel) capacity was reduced and in comparison to today’s dehumidifiers the energy consumption was high.
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For further energy savings an external heat exchanger was part of the solution from Munters. Competitors best solutions showed a power consumption of 1,8 kWh per kilo water removed, against the Munters MCD-units 1,43 kWh ( at 84kW effect) and even as low as 1,31 kWh during periods with lower humidity loads (60kW).
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For further energy savings an external heat exchanger was part of the solution from Munters. Competitors best solutions showed a power consumption of 1,8 kWh per kilo water removed, against the Munters MCD-units 1,43 kWh ( at 84kW effect) and even as low as 1,31 kWh during periods with lower humidity loads (60kW).
After a complicated dismantling of the old system which had very tight access limitations, the MCD was installed. Thanks to the sectional design of thedehumidifier, it was lifted into the building in sections and is now up and running . The new Munters MCD 155 dehumidifier now secures a controlled and constant climate in the store, with energy savings of minimum 32% compared to the running cost of the old dehumidifier.
The new MCD155 has a nominal airflow at 15,300m3/h with a max. regeneration effect of 102kW. To optimize the energy efficiency the regeneration effect has been reduced to 90kW which grant s sufficient dehumidifying capacity under most circumstances – and in periods with extreme humidity loads, the remaining 12kW can be used as a buffer. Functioning at 84kW the dehumidification capacity is 44.2kg/h at 5°C/55%RH. Thanks to MCD’s incorporated modulated heater, the effect is automatically adjusted – depending on actual needs.
Jonny Hagenbjörk, responsible for construction and energy at the Krafts chocolate factory for Marabou, says “To our great satisfaction Munters took care of all the details, from the difficult cut-up and removal of the old unit to completing all ductwork and power installation. That made life a lot easier for us to communicate with only one supplier. We now look forward to take advantages of the benefits of the MCD dehumidifier and feel confident that our products will be perfectly preserved, just as the dehumidifier helps us meet hygienic demands, such as the HACCP regulations”.
Storage of products in a chill store requires strict control of not only temperature but also importantly relative humidity, as it is essential to avoid condensation, which affects the quality of the products and potentially creates hygiene issues like mould. The consequence of condensation can lead to expensive scrapping of products, collapsed packaging and problems in meeting HACCP requirements. By reducing the relative humidity with a Munters dehumidification system, the relative humidity can be constant, irregardless of outdoor deviations over the year.
With Munters’ new generation of desiccant dehumidifiers an extremely energy efficient solution offers optimum protection of stored products
The principle of Munters desiccant dehumidifiers is very simple. Moisture is absorbed onto a slowly-revolving desiccant wheel as air passes through it. The air leaving the other side of the wheel is dry. Another air-stream drives off the moisture which has collected on the drying side of the dehumidifier which is either vented outside or discharged elsewhere. As all the moisture is removed as water vapour by the desiccant wheel, the dehumidifier can operate effectively even at very low temperatures and still maintain the desired humidity conditions.
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