Improving energy efficiency & safety of cold storages in India.

In this paper we have elaborated about revamping of the old refrigeration system for multi temperature cold storages located in Industrial area at Taloja, near Mumbai. This is a classic example of how majority of cold storages in India were built and maintained in old daysand there is stupendous task of revamping the same. The cold storage owner owned five cold storages in Mumbai area. We designed refrigeration system for one ultra-modern cold store in May 2015 for them. After construction of this new cold storage, the task was assigned to us for revamping of existing refrigeration system of remaining old four cold storages without affecting present cold storage operation. These cold storages were more than 20 years old. The major problems faced were, very high energy consumptions and safety related issues such as frequent ammonia leak. In last twenty years industries developed, the population density increased and safety became a very critical issue. In addition energy cost also increased substantially.The cold storages were rented to various customers for multi-product storages. The approach/ methodology selected were, to carry out technical evaluation and to conduct safety audit of all four cold storages. Study and understand day to day operation. Asses and evaluate route cause of problem. Find out areas of improvement to make existing cold storages energy efficient and safe. The entire operation was executed on fast track of six months without affecting the operation and business. Key achievementsweresubstantial reduction in energy consumption, 50% reduction in compressor running hours, improved safety, and no breakdown of compressor since last ten months as against every month compressors breakdown. The defrost time reduced from 90 min/day to25 min/day. The return on investment was three months.