Case Stories: Henningsen Cold Storage Co.

The Challenge

Pete Lepschat, Engineering Services Manager for Henningsen Cold Storage Company was specifying eight valve stations for a 150-ton ammonia system with six million cubic feet of refrigeration. Installing the traditional mild steel valves meant having to plan dedicated downtime throughout the year for repainting maintenance. For a facility that is often in a production phase and prides itself on efficiency, routine downtime to manage corrosion just wasn’t an option. And stainless-steel valves were too expensive or hard to find. “As a company, we’re always looking for the most efficient way possible to do things as a matter of policy. Investing in good strategy can save more money in the long run than saving on equipment that comes with a maintenance commitment.”

Engineering Beyond Maintenance

Moisture, frost, freeze and thaw cycles are a constant headache for refrigerated facilities with roof-placed equipment. Those cycles can do more than cause corrosion, they can pose a threat to the equipment over the long term, shortening useful life. Over a ten-year period, a facility can incur significant cost managing oxidation. For Henningsen, eliminating maintenance altogether was the solution. The company installed valves with Hansen’s maintenance-free new three-layer Anti-Corrosion Technology coating. “We asked the question early on – is this a lifetime fix? Hansen had some pretty compelling test results that showed it was a longtime, if not lifetime, benefit.”

$5k Savings per Evaporator

Rather than choose a product with a maintenance requirement, Lepschat looked for valves engineered to eliminate maintenance altogether for their useful life. “Everything has a finite lifespan, and there are so many variables to consider when you plan the cost of maintenance for a facility. We’re always looking as a company to do things in the most efficient possible way. Dollars on things that require maintenance are not well spent when you have the technology to solve the core problem. If you can engineer a solution once to avoid doing it over and over again, why not?” Lepschat said Henningsen will save around $5K per evaporator over the next ten years by eliminating valve maintenance.

Excellence in Design

Henningsen’s fourteen facilities across the U.S. are highly visible to the company’s customers, and building maintenance is always the top priority. With eight valve stations on the roof, Lepschat wanted to eliminate the potential for oxidation to stain difficult to clean areas as well as the building exterior. “We’re very customer conscious and we have high standards for what they see when it comes to keeping our buildings spotless and in the best operating condition. The ACT coating helps us maintain that level of excellence. Our valves look as new as the day we put them in. If we build another facility using ammonia, we’ll absolutely use Hansen’s ACT coating.”

Project Overview

Engineer

Pete Lepschat – Henningsen Cold Storage Co.

Facility

6,017,423 cubic foot cold storage facility for food manufacturers and forward distribution.

Challenge

Eliminate dedicated downtime for valves by eliminating maintenance altogether.

Solution

Pete specified Hansen’s new ACT-coated valves in 8 valve trains supporting 150 tons of refrigeration in a 6 million cubic foot facility. Improvements noted in these key areas:

maintenance: ACT-coated valves eliminated maintenance and related work cost for all Henningsen’s valves, earning it the company’s specification for any future ammonia facility.
Savings: by eliminating ongoing maintenance, the ACT coating is projected to save the company $5K per evaporator over ten years.
Excellence: oxidation-free valves gave Henningsen greater cofidence in its ability to maintain a level of excellence in a highly visible facility.

Technical Specs

8 evaporator groups supporting 150 tons of refrigeration

Details

Charge: 3,000 pounds of ammonia.

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