Geerlofs Refrigeration vacuum coolers

A freshly harvested produce comes from the land warm. To guarantee freshness and a good shelf life, quick cool down is essential for many produces.

Vacuum cooling is the ideal method to cool down fresh produce like flowers and leafy vegetables rapidly. A vacuum cooler can cool off fresh produce from field temperature to 2°C in 15 minutes. This is the reason why moisture loss is minimized compared to alternative cooling methods. So, produce quality is improved, sellable weight increased and you are able to process large quantities of produce in a short time. A vacuum cooler is not suitable for large produces like beans, sugar snaps and potatoes.

Vacuum cooling technology is based on two principles: water boils (and evaporates) at a lower temperature when atmospheric pressure lowers. And: when evaporating, water cools down the surface it evaporates from. You may be aware that when you cook your pot of tea at the top of the Mount Blanc, you will drink it sooner than when at sea level. This is because the atmospheric pressure is lower at the top. For the second principle you may want to think back to the moment you went swimming in the sea early spring; while under water it wasn’t too bad, but when coming back to the beach wet, the wind evaporates the water on your skin chilling you down rapidly. Use you towel to dry off!

Essentially a vacuum cooler consists out of a large chamber, often a sea container which is adapted for this purpose. To reach an under pressure, vacuum pumps are used to take air out of the container. Somewhere during the vacuuming, the water on the surface of the produce will evaporate all at once: the pressure level is reached at which water evaporates at that temperature. This is called the flash point.

To get rid of the water vapor, a cooler built-in into the container, is kept cold so the vapor, condenses on its cold surface. The water is then drained away to allow the cooking to continue and not to let the vapor settle back on the produce.

In de vacuum process, at flash point, the required cooling capacity should be there instantaneously, the container should truly be air tight and of sufficient strength and the specified under pressure should be reached. Also the logistics is of importance as the cooler should be suitable for the packaging you use, both in size as well as in daily volume. Your also need to evaluate the convenience for quick loading and unloading by looking at the way doors open.

The benefits of a Geerlofs vacuum cooler:

-You work with a partner that understands you fresh produce: Geerlofs vacuum coolers are used by flower and vegetable growers, forwarders and food processors all over the word
-Your partner has more than 85 years of experience in refrigeration technology. We design, manufacture and install vacuum coolers for decades
-Shortest cooling down time: from field to storage temperature in 15 minutes
-Minimal moisture loss compared to alternative methods: increasing sellable weight and produce quality
-Easy loading and unloading: reducing dispatch time