Moducel air handlers used in Dairy Crest creamery
Bespoke Moducel air handling units are being used to provide conditioned air for the cheese making process at the Cornwall creamery of Dairy Crest, the UK’s leading chilled dairy foods company.
Home to two brands, Cathedral City, the market leader in the mature cheddar
sector and Davidstow, the site now has the capacity to produce up to 55,000
tonnes of cheese per annum.
Unlike the company’s other creameries which are traditionally located in valleys, Davidstow is sited on a hilltop on the site of a former World War II airfield, 1,000 feet above sea-level. As such, the site is exposed to the full force of weather blowing in straight off the Atlantic.
Forty custom-built Moducel’s LKS units, 35 internally and five externally are providing conditioned air throughout the complex. Varying in volume from 1.5 to 17.5 m³/sec the units provide a mixture of fresh air supply, air conditioning supply and extract units.
The corner stone of the LKS is its Pentapost construction with special flanged
Pentapost sections fitted onto heavy duty cast alloy corners. Panels are of
a sandwiched construction and designed to provide excellent thermal and acoustic
insulation properties.
The units were specified as part of the major refurbishment programme that saw the creamery increase in capacity to keep up with the demands for its cheeses. The new units were installed in two phases with the old equipment being replaced in tandem to minimise disruption.
As well as general ventilation and comfort cooling, the AHUs are a key part of the cheese-making environment and provide conditioned air in a number of the process areas. Each has its own hygiene requirements and where necessary HEPA filters are used to prevent contamination.