Winery to save $20,000 annually with Berner Air Curtains
Background – employees ask for warmer working conditions:
Royal Wine, the world’s leading kosher winemaker, began to receive requests from their employees at their processing and distribution centers for warmer shipping areas during the winter months. Sub-freezing days near open shipping doors would require heavy clothing, hampered worker productivity, and would cause chilling air drafts, regardless of portable truck and dock seals, according to Abraham Wechter, plant engineer, Royal Wine Corp., Bayonne NJ. Wechter needed a solution and ended up not only satisfying his employees, but also saving money in energy costs and lost production time.
Approach:
Wechter collaborated with local sales engineer on possible shipping door options. Applications for separating the outdoor from indoor environments during the dozens of daily shipping door cycles, were assessed. An air curtain equipment type and sizing strategy was then submitted based on a consultation with Sales Manager Stephen Benes, Berner International, New Castle, PA – leading air curtain manufacturer in the U.S.
Solution:
Six Berner Industrial Direct Drive, model IDC-12 air curtains with indirect gas-fired heat were selected for the 8 x 10-foot roll-up door openings. Each USA made air curtain incorporates three ½ hp, single-speed dual-shaft motors that drive blower wheel assemblies delivering 4,443 CFM. The result is a laminar air stream that returns 70 to 80-percent of the indoor energy back into the space while blocking outdoor temperature infiltration. Wechter and Cino also selected supplementary heat options for the air curtain retrofits to maintain shipping area temperatures at 70°F, regardless of outdoor temperatures and open door time duration.
Results – warmer working conditions in the shipping area:
The Berner air curtains, along with indirect gas-fired heat, protect the shipping area when the doors are open from winter temperatures and provide additional heat to the space as needed, creating warmer working conditions.
In addition to solving the primary concern of winter comfort, in the summer, the air curtains protect the air conditioning, provided by several 20-ton rooftop HVAC units, from escaping through the shipping & receiving doors, helping to maintain internal temperatures and save energy.
By modeling one door’s energy savings using the free, online Berner Energy Savings Calculator, it was predicted energy savings of $3,532.97 (630-Mbtu) annually for one door open an average of 24-hours per week. Multiplying those savings by 6 doors totals an estimated annual savings of $21,197.82.
The air curtains also help to eliminate flying insect and dust infiltration, important sanitation factors for juice and wine facilities.
Read the entire case study here.