A leading global confectionery manufacturer operates its Elizabethtown, PA facility with the highest standards of quality, reliability, and food safety. The chocolate cooling tunnel at this facility plays a vital role in maintaining consistent product quality but relied on a legacy R-22 industrial refrigeration system, steam-driven desiccant dehumidification, and a complex multi-stage cooling process. Imperion secured critical funding through the RISE PA Small Scale Award Track (SAT) program to modernize this critical production asset, improving energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and enhancing long-term operational reliability.
Prior to the upgrade, the tunnel’s cooling system depended on a high-global warming potential (GWP) R-22 refrigeration system operating in conjunction with ethanol brine and desiccant cooling loops. This layered cooling architecture increased energy consumption, required steam for desiccant regeneration, and added unnecessary complexity to the facility’s central chilled water system. The project replaces this legacy configuration with a high-efficiency cooling tunnel served directly by the site’s existing chilled water system, eliminating the use of high-GWP refrigerants within the process while reducing electrical demand, steam consumption, and overall system complexity.
