A good customer of Eldridge’s called to ask if we could help with in solving a humidity problem they were experiencing in their Texas ice cream plant. In a second story room, containers of ice cream product came out of the blast freezer and onto a robotic palletizing machine. Once the product was placed on the pallet and shrink wrapped, it was sent by an internal elevator to a first floor holding area to be loaded onto delivery trucks. The packaging room required conditions of 50º F and 20% relative humidity (RH). However, the two existing desiccant dehumidification units operating in the packaging room were struggling to maintain the required RH level.
Problem Identification
With the help of our desiccant dehumidifier equipment vendor, Innovative Air Technology (IAT), we performed an on-site assessment of the humidity loads on the customer’s packaging room in summertime conditions. We evaluated humidity loads from penetrations, people, products and infiltrations. We discovered a second freight elevator was being used to bring packing material to the second floor and had an opening to the outside on the first floor. Even with the elevator doors closed, this penetration was contributing a significant humidity load to the room that had not been considered when sizing the current units.
Prescribing a Solution
Calculations determined that a desiccant dehumidifier that could remove over 523,000 grains of moisture per hour or about 9 gallons was the best solution. The IAT 5000RG unit was selected to overcome all of the humidity loads on the packaging room at a flow of 4,000 CFM. We also wanted to introduce a small amount of positive pressure to the packaging room so the intake to the desiccant dehumidifier unit pulls in 50 CFM of outside make-up air. To eliminate condensation in some isolated spots we used ductwork to distribute the dried air evenly throughout the large packaging room.
Happy Customer
At a recent site visit to check the performance of the desiccant dehumidifier unit installed, we found a customer pleased with the results. Humidity in the packaging room has been consistently measured at the required RH level and there has not been problems with condensation build-up on the product or equipment. Now our customer is as happy as the cows in the area that provide milk for their ice cream.