The CITEpesquero seaport of Callao in Peru, which is one of the biggest sea hubs in South America, has upgraded its refrigeration system choosing a BITZER Ammonia Compressor Pack (ACP).
CITEpesquero promotes and provides services in the fishing chain from hydrobiological resources for national and international markets.
It belongs to the Instituto Tecnológico de la Producción, which engages in scientific research and technological development for the resources of the sea and continental waters.
The Peruvian seaport is one of the most important fishing and trading ports in South America and although it has extensive cold-storage capacity an upgrade was overdue.
In fact some parts of the port’s refrigeration system was more than 40 years old.
The upgrade was undertaken by BITZER Brazil and local company, Cold Import.
Forget state of the art, this technology was almost obsolete making it difficult to source spare parts.
The last time the screw compressors were replaced was over 20 years ago.
The customer provided specific guidelines for the replacement of systems in public facilities, such as the need for new parts to offer the same performance as their predecessors. They also had to be energy-efficient.
Since the former system had been run with ammonia, it had to be replaced with an ammonia system with the same capacity and maximum energy efficiency.
The BITZER Ammonia Compressor Pack (ACP) now cools and preserves raw materials and finished products from the research areas.
This includes a prechamber with a temperature between 0 °C and 5 °C and a medium temperature chamber at 0 °C with an evaporation temperature of -5 °C plus two freezer chambers at a temperature of -25 °C with an evaporation temperature of -36 °C.
Furthermore, the ACP caters for a freezing tunnel with 2.5 MT capacity at a temperature of –30 °C with an evaporation temperature of -36 °C.
Cold Import’s automation area implemented a state-of-the-art monitoring system for optimal control of the operating parameters, pressures and temperatures in real time online. The assembly of the ACP took around a month, and the commissioning was completed remotely in two weeks.
The new refrigeration system takes into account the Peruvian Law for the Promotion of the Efficient Use of Energy, which declares the promotion of efficient energy use as a national interest.
It ensures energy supply, protects consumers, promotes the competitiveness of the Peruvian economy and reduces the negative environmental impact of the use and consumption of energy resources.
CITEpesquero engineer, Efrain Licera La Madrid, said the single-stage flooded ammonia refrigeration system had to comply with public policies.
“That means all equipment had to be replaced by assets of equal power and maximum energy efficiency,” he said.
“The ACP makes maintenance schedules very manageable, and electricity consumption has been reduced by up to 20 per cent. And last but not least, there has been a significant reduction of the environmental impact in accordance with the Montreal Protocol.”
Industrial sales manager at BITZER Brazil, Mauro Stacchini, said the upgrade supports CITEpesquero and the local fishing industry.
“Our ACP contributes to the competitiveness of the fishing industry, including training sessions, technology transfer and technical assistance. And it makes the refrigeration plant absolutely safe – both legally and environmentally,” Stacchini said.
BITZER is represented all over the world with 72 sites in 37 countries.
In 2020, BITZER had 3,800 employees.