Penmann is proud of our 43 year association with KP Foods marked by the delivery of yet another successful project to cool and condition their new pellet production facility at Billingham in Teesside. The unit was officially opened on 21st May by the Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, with help from the Pom-Bear character.
The pellets manufactured on two lines in the new facility will be used to make Pom-Bear and Hula Hoops products. They are formed into the shapes of the product, such as a bear or a hoop, and then cooked and turned into the finished product.
The cooling solution designed by Penmann addresses the potential high temperatures in the extrusion and drying areas. The process area also handles gluten free product and as such requires good practice in terms of segregation and pressurisation.
The ventilation and conditioning systems use displacement principles which offer significant advantages over conventional mixing ventilation, especially in areas with high heat loads, large internal volumes and high roofs. The system has already been used extensively on the Teesside site.
A key feature of displacement, a technique developed and perfected by Penmann, is how air is delivered into the area; low velocities are used, allowing cool air to drop to low level ensuring optimum cooling is provided to the occupied zone. Warm air (along with any airborne contaminants and odours) is displaced to high level where it is extracted. Compared to conventional mixing systems, displacement is more energy efficient as it only requires 65% of the air volume to achieve the same internal conditions. This represents an approximate saving of 35% in fan power.
