Integrated Reefer News | Page 3 Many people swear by its virtues and it is widely consumed and used in regional culinary traditions. This ensures strong demand for this unusual fruit across SE Asia, meaning that it is often transported fresh over long distances by road and sea. Therein lies another problem. High respiration meets high ambient temperature Durian has extremely high respiration, meaning that it generates a great deal of heat and consumes O2 and releases CO2 in large quantities. Like all respiring produce, respiration rate is relative to temperature, making it important to rapidly cool the cargo to set point to reduce respiration. When 18 tonnes of durian have been packed into a 40’HC reefer at an ambient temperature of 30°C or more, the heat generated by the fruit can often exceed the reefer’s total refrigeration capacity. The result is spoiled cargos and financial losses for the dealer and transport company. A classic challenge for Star Cool Although the fruit is not native to Thailand, around half of the world’s total annual harvest is grown there. The majority of durian fruits exported from Thailand are not pre-cooled prior to loading. Selection, sizing, packaging and stuffing are all carried out in open-air warehouses without refrigerated storage or pre-cooling. A classic challenge for Star Cool, if ever there was one. However, Star Cool was not well received initially by local exporters. The reefers were perceived as more susceptible to hot stuffing, high load and high ambient temperature conditions. Unreliable local gensets also unfairly influenced Star Cool’s reputation. MCI’s engineering team went to work to optimise the operating software for durian carriage conditions which have now become a standard test criteria for extreme loading. Adapting to tough local conditions Chai Fong and it’s affiliated transport company, Win Wind Transport, were founded by Mr Huang Wen-Chun and Ms Piyawan Yangchana in October 2004. From its base in Chonburi, Thailand, the company specialises in road transportation of fresh produce, especially durian, and to China in particular. ’’Star Cool is our workhorse reefer. They cool fast and consume less power across the 75-85 hour transport window than containers from other brands. - Huang Wen-Chun, co-founder of Chai Fong and Win Wind Transport ’’ “We had some operational difficulties with stock units at the beginning. Fortunately, Star Cool’s local engineering support, Thai- Cool Solutions, was able to make some technical modifications and we have been happy with the reefers’ performance ever since”, said Mr Huang. The shipping of reefer containers generally requires cargo to be loaded at carriage temperature. In Thailand, however, it is not uncommon for durian to be loaded at a temperature of 35-40°C with a 13°C set point required. Managing the cooling process Most of the gensets used for cooling are provided by local truckers. These are often static domestic models adapted for use on trucks and suffer from unreliable voltage and frequency. Ensuring correct power output from the gensets is crucial to successful transportation, as Mr Huang explained: “We understand how to prepare our gensets to cope with the very high heat loads. Initially, we run the units pretty much flat out to quickly reach set point during the 800 km leg to the Thai border. From there, we know our partners will be able to take the produce another 1,400 km across Laos and through Vietnam to Guangxi with no problems at all.” Optimising performance for local conditions The way Star Cool reefers were adapted to tackle extremely tough local conditions is typical of how MCI works with end-users to ensure optimum operational efficiency. This includes not only powerful cooling performance but also impressive energy efficiency, as Mr Huang observed: “Star Cool is our workhorse reefer. They cool fast and consume less power across the 7585 hour transport window than containers from other brands. We have not experienced a single shipment failure with Star Cool since late 2014. We are always happy to carry Star Cool units for our shipping line customers and will be buying more of our own in the future as well.” Durian awaiting packaging in the open air warehouse Chai Fong’s staff assembled with one of the many sets of Star Cool SCI reefers and their transport equipment
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