Challenge
A major food and pharmaceutical ingredients producer, specialising in probiotics and live cultures, needed an immediate “superfreezer” rental solution as part of its warehouse expansion project.
The international biotech hub based in northern Italy stores large quantities of high-value, semi-finished product at very low temperatures of - 50°C. Temperature control is vital because if temperatures rise above - 50°C, products are rendered unusable. The nature of the products – including frozen and lyophilized microbial cultures – also necessitates very accurate temperature control.
In 2022, the company was rapidly expanding production and was fast-tracking construction of a new warehouse to cope with this increased production. It urgently required delivery and installation of a cold storage solution so that it could increase capacity.
Solution
The company’s original specification was for a single 40’ container. However, as it is not possible to reach the required operating temperature setpoint of - 55°C with a unit of this size, Trane instead recommended the provision of two 20’ cold containers. Space was limited as the company already had a 40’ container on site. Despite these challenges, delivery and installation to the outdoor location went very smoothly.
A real bonus of the rental project was that Trane was also able to provide remote monitoring. This enables managers at the company to check temperatures inside the containerized cold stores at any time, 24/7. This ability to monitor – and remotely modify temperatures if required – was a key benefit of Trane’s solution.
Results
The customer was very satisfied with Trane’s rental solution and, following installation, constructed an air-conditioned room to provide convenient, low-temperature access to all its containerized cold stores.
Thanks to Trane’s solution, the company has also been able to increase production still further and is now embarking on a second phase of the project with a third 20’ container being installed in an adjacent location.
SuperFreezers were originally designed for marine transport refrigeration and offer exceptionally high-performance protection for valuable food and pharmaceutical products with cold store temperatures as low as - 70°C.
Trane’s expertise in rental solutions and the ability to achieve very low temperatures with remote monitoring functionality made the difference to the customer. Trane’s cold storage solutions are suitable for any raw material or finished product requiring temperature-controlled storage to preserve or increase shelf life. Trane’s containerized cold stores have a wide range of applications across all industry sectors – from food and beverage production to pharmaceuticals, bio-life and healthcare.
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