An award winning spiral in demand

Established in the UK in 1984, Starfrost has supplied bespoke equipment to food processors in over 50 countries worldwide. Starfrost’s fully automated freezing and chilling systems are designed to boost production, maximise efficiency and reduce running costs. One recent installation generated an 80 percent reduction in running costs compared to the previous nitrogen system.

In 2006, Starfrost’s revolutionary Three Zone Spiral scooped a major food industry award. The innovative freezing and chilling system won the Technological Development of the Year category in the UK’s Food Processing Awards. The judging panel was impressed by the unique design of the new system, which ensures more than twice the frost tolerance compared to a conventional spiral. This allows the system to operate continuously for three to seven days between defrosts, and offers fast and efficient freezing and chilling. A unique development in refrigeration technology allows the system to operate for extended running times, minimising downtime, boosting production and reducing costs.

Starfrost specialises in the design and manufacture of industrial freezers and chillers, including robust spiral systems. Starfrost’s Helix Spirals have a low tension, flat belt design for ultimate durability and require minimal maintenance. Starfrost spirals offer a lower maintenance alternative to self-stacking systems.

As well as designing automated mechanical systems to boost manufacturing efficiency, many Starfrost installations are now driven by the customer’s need to reduce escalating nitrogen freezing costs. Starfrost is committed to pioneering freezing and chilling technology to meet the demands of the global food manufacturing industry. Starfrost Director Dave Pearson says: “Starfrost has always focused on innovative new technology to maximise efficiency. The Three Zone Spiral forms a key part of our mission to offer the very latest in freezing and chilling equipment technology to customers worldwide.”

Starfrost’s Three Zone Spiral offers rapid freezing and chilling, with impingement of air from above and below the product. It is suitable for food items such as pizza, ready meals, poultry, meat and fish, as well as pastry products, desserts and ice-cream. The system’s controlled airflow ensures a fast heat transfer from the food product. The revolutionary evaporator design allows the Three Zone Spiral to operate around the clock for up to a week before defrosting is required, boosting the utilisation of factory assets.

The Three Zone Spiral can also be combined with a fast defrost system to greatly reduce equipment downtime. When installed in conjunction with a reverse cycle defrost, the evaporator can be defrosted in just 30 minutes.

Starfrost recently supplied a Three Zone Spiral chilling system to a leading food manufacturer in Spain. The company was looking to replace an existing in-line tunnel chiller that operated on nitrogen gas and generated high running costs. Starfrost’s UK engineering team designed and built a Three Zone Spiral for the Spanish company. The system is designed to chill cooked pizzas from +60?C to +2?C and is capable of processing just under 2000kg per hour. The chiller is 5.5m in height and features a 660mm belt rotating upwards around a central drum with 36 tiers. This bespoke Three Zone Spiral system can operate continuously for seven days between defrosts. It is estimated that the new chiller has generated an 80 percent saving in running costs for the Spanish firm compared to the previous nitrogen system.

In 2004, Starfrost was acquired by Star Refrigeration, the UK’s largest independent refrigeration engineering company. Together, the two companies are pioneering the commercial application of new developments in CO2 refrigeration technology. For instance, using the very latest refrigeration technology, Starfrost has successfully applied mechanical freezing to high value shellfish. By using low air temperatures and high speeds, the company is now able to freeze products that previously could only be processed using nitrogen systems. “Our pilot non-nitrogen systems have already been successfully tested on products such as large shell-on shrimp,” says Pearson. “Shellfish requires extremely fast freezing. In the past, cryogenic freezing with nitrogen was the only answer. A standard mechanical freezer is not ideal for these products as it can draw in moisture at very low temperatures. Our low temperature, high-velocity CO2 system can easily match the quality results of nitrogen, without the use of ammonia in the factory space.”

One further advantage with today’s CO2 freezing technology is the potential for the operator to recover waste heat and energy from the system. This by-product of the freezing process can be collected as high-grade hot water, suitable for cooking, cleaning or process heating on site. Starfrost is keen to work with food processors that are interested in a freezing system that also provides ‘free’ hot water to meet factory requirements.

Starfrost’s freezing and chilling equipment range includes the Spiral Helix, Starlite HT (Hybrid Tunnel), Turbo IQF and StarContact system. The company specialises in low to medium capacity in-line freezers and chillers, as well as larger site-built systems for major manufacturers. In addition to its UK headquarters and manufacturing facility in Lowestoft, Starfrost has sales offices and agents in Poland, Russia, Norway, Italy, the USA, South America, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

For more information, phone the Starfrost sales team on +44 (0)1502 562206, e-mail sales@starfrost.co.uk or visit www.starfrost.co.uk