Bitzer Ecostars serve up a tasty dish
Bitzer condensing units are playing a key role in ensuring that kimchi, the Korean national dish, reaches the consumer in perfect condition.
Kimchi is made from vegetables, often cabbage, preserved through the process of fermentation. It’s served with every meal, either as a starter or main dish.
The fermentation process means that kimchi is not easy to produce. Certain temperatures and moisture levels have to be maintained during fermentation to ensure the best flavour.
At the Pulmuone global kimchi factory in Iksan, Bitzer Ecostar condensing units ensure optimal conditions at all times. The factory is a three-storey building with 9,277m2 production area, manufacturing more than 10,000 tonnes of premium kimchi annually for global export.
The new refrigeration system features 21 Ecostar LHV7E and one LHV5E condensing units, which operate with R134a refrigerant and an evaporation temperature of 0°C to –7°C, depending on the production process. In suction pressure mode, all the units operate at a constant evaporation temperature.
The Bitzer units were installed on the building’s roof but can be monitored remotely via the internet, providing the customer with easy access to all the Ecostar functions.
Baek Seok-in, director of Pulmuone’s integrated engineering centre, revealed that in addition to being able to reduce energy consumption by more than 20%, remote monitoring was a key factor in selecting the Bitzer units.
“In August 2018, we had a record outside temperature of 40°C here in Korea. Due to their high-pressure cut-out, conventional condensing units stopped operating in these extreme conditions. But not the Ecostar units. They continued doing their job and never stopped cooling,” he revealed.