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> Temperature & Air Balancing Control

"With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good!"®  If you have had a spread of Smucker's strawberry jam, you know how good it is.  Well, everyday 15,000 jars of Smucker's famous jams, jellies, and ice cream toppings are made right here in the Mid-South.  In 2004, the J.M. Smucker plant in Memphis partnered with S.M. Lawrence Company.  Since then, we have been providing ongoing proactive "planned maintenance" for their mechanical and refrigeration equipment.

In the Spring of 2006, Lawrence was once again given an opportunity to meet a need of Smuckers.  The Cook Room, where millions of jars of jellies have been made, was in need of a mechanical solution.  The make up air units that supply the Cook Room had finally given up after years of dedicated service.  The existing make up air units (as shown to the right) only supplied outside air to balance the negative air that is exhausted through the Cook Room roof.  Over the years with the expansion of cookers, product lines and personnel, the heat load had become unbearable.  The new Plant Manager, William Meznarich, was determined to not only replace these ancient make up units this year to balance the air leaving the cook room, but also to give his dedicated team of jelly makers some much needed relief. 

Our Solution:

S.M. Lawrence Company first performed a detailed Air Balance Survey.  With the Make Up Air Units not working and the exhaust fans running wide open, the Cook Room was negative 70,000 plus CFM of air.  So, our solution was to replace the 70k plus CFM of air with 80,000 CFM to create a slightly positive air pressure environment.  This will keep all contaminants from entering the cooking room and keep the doors shut.  Now that we have the air balanced, what to do about the unbearable heat on the upper deck?  In the summer temperatures can rise to more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit on the upper deck in the Cook Room. With the new 100% outside air handlers, we would need to add some cooling to our application to make the cook room a more comfortable environment.  Therefore, we added two 130 ton condensers that will tie into the two outer air handlers (review pictures to the right).  Once in operation the cook room will now have the 80k CFM needed to balance the air and enough cooling capacity to lower the room temperature to the lower 80s on the hottest day in July. 

Equipment Specified for this project:

• 2-McQuay "Skyline" Roof Top Outside Air Handlers.  25,000 CFM Nominal Air Flow with dual refrigerant circuits.  

• 2-McQuay Model ACZ Condensing Units, 130 Ton Cooling Capacity. (260 Total tons of cooling)

• 1-Direct Fired Make Up Air unit; 30,000 CFM at 2.6 million BTU Heat Capacity.

Testimonials: (In the works...check back soon)