“Petrolio”, the TV programme hosted by Duilio Giammaria and aired by RAI 1, featured the grand project called IPOGEO(underground) of cold apple storage rooms which was developed by Trentino-based MELINDA Consortium. This system is a huge innovation in the fruit conservation sector and in food refrigeration in general.
Stefani air coolers have been installed in a futuristic underground cold room, the first in the world, fitted in a space that used to be old quarries, now unexploited, where rocks replace traditional structures made of reinforced concrete and insulating panels.
The cold room is 11 m high, 10 m wide and 25 m deep and can stow up to 2800 apple crates.
The Stefani units are installed in the large refrigerating system that was designed by Longofrigo Srl, a company specialised in the design and manufacture of this kind of industrial systems. This refrigerating system, besides conserving 10 tons of apples per year, helps Melinda to save 27,000 m3 of water and to reduce energy consumption in as much as 40,000 kg of carbon dioxide (proven 65% saving compared with traditional above-ground warehouses).
But this is not the only advantage of this fruit conservation system. The fact that this is a 100% underground apple conservation system translates into a significant reduction in landscape impact, leaving available spaces on the surface for new crops (over 60,000 m2).
For this project Stefani used SGIN industrial air coolers with propylene glycol, configured specifically for this special application, so as to ensure a suitable temperature inside the cold room with a minimum difference between the temperature of the thermal carrier fluid and that of air, thus keeping the quality of apples intact longer.
Click on the following link to watch the programme: http://www.expo.rai.it/petrolio-del-4-maggio-2015/