COLD CHAIN DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA MODERNIZATION OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF COLD STORAGE OF PERISHABLES

PRESENTATION AT NCRAC 2011

by
ARVIND SURANGE ACR PROJECT CONSULTANTS Pune, India www.acrconsultants.net

INDIAS DEMOGRAPHY
Largest democracy in the world Second largest in population with approx 1.16 billion people
Area 3,287,263 sq km
(land: 2,973,193 sq km & water: 314,070 sq km)

28 states and 7 Union Territories

INDIAS DEMOGRAPHY
India's Position in World's Production
Largest producer of milk in the world -105 million MT per annum Largest livestock population estimated meat production 485 MMT) Second largest producer of fruits & vegetables - 210 MMT Third largest producer of fisheries products - 6.4 MMT 52% cultivable land compared to 11% world average 20 agri-climatic regions

COLD CHAIN DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

Development of Cold Store Industry in India started after 1950 The number of units grew from 83 in 1955 to an estimated 6000 units in 2009
The capacity of these units grew from 43000 MT in 1955 to an estimated 25.5 million MT in 2009 Till 1970, majority of these units stored only potatoes & they were mainly concentrated in UP, West Bengal, Bihar & Punjab

The units were based on older technology of Construction, Insulation & Refrigeration & Handling systems
After 1970, a new trend of multipurpose, multiproduct cold stores was observed, mainly in Maharahtra, especially in Navi Mumbai, Pune & other parts of Maharashtra and this was followed in Gujarat, MP, Karnataka & Delhi

GROWTH PATTERN OF COLD STORAGE CAPACITY IN INDIA

Year

No.of Units (in Nos.) 83

359 600

Capacity (in '000 MT) 43

306 682

1955
1960 1965

1970
1975

1218
1615

1638
1994

1979
1986 1995

2266
2607 3253

3348
5402 10000

2004
2006

4748
5101

19552
21694

2007
2009

5316
6000

23334
25500

Growth of Cold Storage Industry in India

7000 30000

6000 25000

5000 20000
Capaccity in '000 MT

4000 Numbers 15000 3000

10000 2000

5000 1000

2006

1995

1955

1970

1975

1979

0 1 1955

1986

1960

1965

2004

2007

2 1960

3 1965

4 1970

5 1975

6 1979 Year

7 1986

8 2004

9 2006

10 2007

11 2009

No.of CS

Installed Capacity in '000 MT

Zonewise distribution of Cold Stores Capacity (base 2009)

West 7%

South 6%
Central 7% North 50%

East 30%

Zonewise growth of Cold Storage Capacity (in 000 MT)

14000

12000 10000 8000

6000 4000 2000 0 1 2004 CENTRAL EAST 2 2006 NORTH 3 2007 SOUTH 4 2009 WEST

Zonewise growth of Cold Storage Capacity in India (in 000 MT)

2004 CENTRAL EAST 1367 5759

2006 1341 6633

2007 1369 7784

2009

1496
8506

NORTH
SOUTH

10070
1029

10861
1367

10968
1566

11986
1712

WEST

1329

1492

1647

1800

Zonewise growth of Cold Storages in India (in Nos.)

3000
2500 2000 1500 1000 500

Zonewise growth of Cold Storages in India (in Nos.) 2004 2006 2007 2009 397 1069 2693 878 963

CENTRAL
EAST NORTH

328
783 2163

340
861 2365

352
947 2386

SOUTH
0 1 2004 2 2006 3 2007

674
800

741
839

778
853

2009 4
SOUTH WEST

WEST

CENTRAL

EAST

NORTH

TRENDS IN COLD CHAIN DEVELOPMENT

From the old bulk single commodity storage concept, today the industry has grown to wide areas of application in the cold chain sector

These can be classified as follows: Bulk Cold Stores mainly for single commodity like potato, apples, red chillies & raisins. Units mainly concentrated in areas like UP, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar, MP & Andhra

Multipurpose Cold Stores for storing variety of items like fruits, vegetables, dry fruits, spices, pulses, milk products etc. Units mainly located in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka. Many units have frozen food stores as a part of the cold store complex. Sorting, Grading, Packing, Pre-cooling & Cold Storage for items such as grapes, mangoes, pomegranates, papaya etc. in Maharashta, Karnataka, Gujarat etc
continued

TRENDS IN COLD CHAIN DEVELOPMENT

classification continued Processing, Freezing & Storage of Frozen foods for commodities like fruits & vegetables, ice cream, butter, meat, fish & poultry products. This development happened mainly after 1970.
Sorting, Grading & Packing & Controlled Atmosphere (CA) Storage for extending life of perishable / seasonal fruits like Apples, Pears, Plums etc. A few units have come up mainly in the Northern sector total capacity only 40,000 MT. Development mainly in the last 10 years. Ripening facilities mainly for Bananas, Mangoes, Papaya etc. development is catching up now.

Distribution centers - an important part of cold chain logistics the first large unit has come up in Navi Mumbai & many smaller unit in the retail sector development in the last 6 to 7 years.

TRENDS IN COLD CHAIN DEVELOPMENT

classification continued Super markets, Malls & other Retail Units with Walk-in cold stores, Mini Units, AC & Ventilated stores. A big development is on for the last 5 years Refrigerated Transport a variety of refrigerated vehicles developed for Indian handling practices and for exports / imports.

BULK COLD STORE

MULTIPURPOSE COLD STORE

PRECOOLING FACILITY WITH COLD STORE

PROCESSING FACILITIES

CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE STORE

FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTER

TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGICAL FEATURES OF COLD STORES

Old Units with Bunker type coils Old units with Diffuser type coils

Multipurpose units with conventional construction and ceiling suspended ACUs Multipurpose units with Sandwich Panel construction
Single floor with Mechanised handling facilities Multi-floor with Manual handling facilities

OLD UNITS WITH BUNKER TYPE COILS

TYPICAL OLD DESIGN OF COLD STORE WITH SHEET ROOFING & LARGE BUNKER TYPE COOLING COIL (SECTION)

OLD UNITS WITH DIFFUSER TYPE COILS

ACU

TYPICAL COLD STORE WITH R.C.C.SLAB ROOF & FLOOR MOUNTED AC UNIT WITH DUCTING

MULTIPURPOSE UNITS WITH CONVENTIONAL CONSTRUCTION AND CEILING SUSPENDED ACUS

TYPICAL COLD STORE WITH CEILING SUSPENDED AC UNIT

MULTIPURPOSE UNITS WITH SANDWICH PANEL CONSTRUCTION

REF. UNIT

C.S. RACKS

C.S.

C.S.

C.S.

C.S.

ANTE ROOM

LOADING / UNLOADING

OFFICE

TYPICAL COLD STORE WITH INSULATED PANEL STRUCTURE & MODULAR REF. UNIT WITH MECHANISED HANDLING - PLAN

TRENDS IN CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES

1. Conventional buildings with RCC frames, brick walls with a) Truss type sheet roofs b) RCC slab type roof Internal floor structure of RCC or Steel Floor grating of wood or steel
2. Pre-engineered building structures designed with cold chambers constructed from sandwich insulated panels. a) Internal floors with steel structure b) Single floor with racks for mechanised loading

CONVENTIONAL CONSTRUCTION 1

CONVENTIONAL CONSTRUCTION 2

CHAMBER WITH INSULATED PANEL AND STEEL STRUCTURE

A well stacked Cold chamber

TRENDS IN THERMAL INSULATION PRACTICES

Old Units

Rice husk used as Thermal Insulation Cheap but necessitated large thickness Lot of maintenance problems Walls and Ceiling finished with AC sheets Many units had cork as insulation
Expanded Polystyrene, Fiber glass on walls and ceilings with sand and cement plaster or Sheet metal cladding using Al. sheet or Precoated G.S. sheet. Floor with EPS-HD Development of On-site Panel system / One side panel system Prefab Insulated Panel Structure (also called Sandwich Panel) EPS Panels with EPS bonded to sheet metal skins using special glue PUF Panels using Polyurethane as insulation material foamed between two metal skins

Last Three decades

Latest

INSULATED PANELS

Application right from small walk-ins to very large Cold Stores

Gone beyond cold store construction used for processing plants, prefabricated houses, ware houses etc. Also for doors for cold stores light and simple construction

Highlights Greater flexibility and faster construction Better isolation and better thermal insulation Brick Walls eliminated and therefore C.S. volume increases on a given floor area Modular construction feasible and offers advantage of addition / expansion as per requirement Some what more expensive and hence application was limited to small Cold Rooms , Walk-ins , Blast Freeze and Frozen Food Stores Now being used in many cold chain projects.

A Modern Cold Store with Sandwich Panel Construction

Inside view of Sandwich Panel Construction

TRENDS IN REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS Old System

Use of slow speed ammonia refrigeration compressors No capacity control

Atmospheric condensers Bunker type evaporator coils / floor mounted air cooling units

TRENDS IN REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS

Recent Trends
Energy efficient designs of equipments both Ammonia & HFC
Use of Reciprocating / Screw compressors with capacity controls / Scroll compressors on HFC units

Evaporative condensers with M.S / S.S coils on Ammonia, S & T and Air cooled condensers on HFC Ceiling suspended finned air cooling units using M.S (galvanised) / S.S coils with Aluminium fins / Aluminium coils with Alu fins for Ammonia

TRENDS IN REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS

Recent Trends
S.S / Aluminium / FRP fans Pump circulation (overfeed) systems for large Ammonia units Appropriate automation and control systems

REFRIGERATION SYSTEM
Systems currently being used can be classified as follows: -

Modular units using HFC / HCFC refrigerant

Central Plants using HFC / HCFC refrigerants with air cooled / water cooled machines

Central Plants using Ammonia refrigerant single stage & two stage Vapour absorption system using ammonia & water combination

Ammonia Central Plant with Recip Compressors

Ammonia Central Plant with Screw Compressors

Liquid Refrigerant recirculation system

IMPORTANT FEATURES RELATED TO RECENT DEVELOPMENT

Fire Protection - An essential feature - some units destroyed in fire in recent years - Wet & Dry systems as per local codes

Standards - Various standards are applicable for cold storage construction - Refrigeration plants to be designed as per relevant ASHRAE / BIS / NHB standards - Older units hardly followed any standards but now there is better awareness about standards
continued

IMPORTANT FEATURES RELATED TO RECENT DEVELOPMENT

continued

Standards for Equipment design & installation Standards for Piping Standards for Safety Criteria Guideline ammonia machine room ventilation Standards for Thermal Insulation Fire protection codes Building Codes NBC ECBC guidelines

ELECTRICALS
D.G.Set - standby power supply very important

Power Factor Correction

Efficient Lighting fixtures

MATERIAL HANDLING
Conventional Handling Practices
Manual loading & unloading

Recent Development
Use of electrical hoists / lifts / fork lift trucks /conveyors Rack structures in chambers for storing Use of Pallets & Bins Use of computers for maintaining record of loading / unloading & stocks

ENERGY SAVING
Refrigeration - an expensive process, both in terms of first cost & energy cost
Lack of adequate energy supply & rising energy cost - serious concerns Need for employing various energy saving measures

Promotion of GREEN COLD CHAIN concept first mooted in India!

FEATURES OF GREEN COLD STORES Eco-friendly Plant Layout Efficient Building Design Effective Thermal Insulation Eco-friendly & Energy Efficient Refrigeration system Waste Heat Recovery System Effective Control Systems Energy Efficient Lighting
continued

FEATURES OF GREEN COLD STORES

continued

Ventilation Noise Control Fire Safety Water Consumption and Recycling Rain Water Harvesting Strip / Air Curtains Operational Practices

(*) This is a recent concept and is expected to gain significance in the years to come

Rain water Harvest Tank

Water Storage / Treatment Recycling

Flyash Brick Wall

Defrost water return line from AC Units to condensers

Electrical Room

Machine Room

Reflective Coating on Roof

FRP Sheets for Natural Light Over Attic

Cold Chamber Below

TURBO VENTILATORS OVER ATTIC

Insulated Panel Structure

Flyash Brick Wall

Loading / Unloading Platform Below

Dock Door

Office Below Solar PV Cells

Tall Trees Solar PV Light Main Gate

Tall Trees

LAYOUT SHOWING POSSIBLE PROVISIONS FOR A "GREEN COLD STORE"

ACR PROJECT CONSULTANTS

39/35, ERANDAVANA, PUNE 411 004 TEL - (020) 25432764 / 25439209 E-MAIL : asurange@vsnl.com

MULTIPURPOSE COLD STORE WITH INSULATED PANEL

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
For the first time NHB (National Horticulture Board) has taken lead to create technical standards for Cold Chain projects. Three standards already formalised Cold Storages without pre-cooling Multi-commodity Storages with pre-cooling Controlled Atmosphere Storages Two more recently introduced For Ripening chambers For Refrigerated Transport Besides NHB, National Horticultural Mission (NHM) & Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) are offering higher financial incentives for new projects as well as expansion of existing units, subject to their being based on modern & efficient technology

These standards are available at http://nhb.gov.in

CONCLUSION
Good potential exists for the development of modern & energy efficient cold chain facilities. Currently the F&V processing is only for 6% of the production and the target over next 5 to 6 years is upto 20% It is imperative to have a system of registration of the existing and the new cold storage units The Govt. offers good financial incentives for cold chain projects. Excise concession available for some components of plant and machinery. The concept of GREEN Cold Storages should be promoted Rating system for evaluation of the GREEN projects should be formalized Special incentives should be considered for the GREEN Cold Storage projects

THANK YOU