How to Select Suitable BITZER Compressor Units for Fruit Cold Storage 1

Proper selection can not only guarantee fresh-keeping effect, but also greatly cut long-term power costs, and prevent the unit from being overloaded and starting/stopping frequently, which shortens its service life.

I. Determine the Working Conditions of Cold Storage Based on Stored Fruits (Basis for Selection)

Different fruits have vastly different temperature tolerance, which directly determines the evaporation temperature range of the compressor and serves as the key factor for model selection:

1. Temperate Fruits (Apples, Pears, Cherries, Winter Jujubes, Blueberries)

Storage temperature: 0℃～4℃; Recommended evaporation temperature: -5℃～-8℃, medium-temperature fresh-keeping working conditions. Single-stage medium-temperature BITZER models are preferred.

2. Citrus Fruits (Oranges, Pomelos, Mandarins)

Storage temperature: 5℃～8℃; Evaporation temperature: 0℃～-3℃, high-temperature fresh-keeping working conditions with low compression ratio and light unit load.

3. Tropical Fruits (Mangoes, Durians, Lychees, Bananas, Pineapples)

Storage temperature: 10℃～15℃. Chilling injury easily occurs below 9℃. Evaporation temperature: 0℃～3℃. High-temperature compressors shall be adopted; low-temperature models must not be used indiscriminately.

Important Reminder: The temperature fluctuation of fruit cold storage shall be controlled within ±0.5℃. The compressor needs stable capacity regulation to cope with heat load impacts caused by goods incoming and frequent door opening.

II. Main BITZER Models Adapted to Fruit Cold Storage

Three major series of BITZER compressors are widely applied in fruit fresh-keeping cold storage: semi-hermetic piston units, screw parallel units and packaged condensing units, selected according to cold storage scale:

1. Semi-Hermetic Piston Condensing Units (First Choice for Small & Medium-Sized Fruit Cold Storage)

Applicable volume: 50～1,500m³, including small fresh-keeping warehouses at producing areas and turnover cold storage in wholesale markets.

Typical models: 4PES, 6FE, Ecoline series semi-hermetic piston compressors.

Advantages: Moderate initial investment, easy maintenance and highly versatile spare parts. Single unit or parallel connection of 2～4 units is available with multi-stage capacity regulation, suitable for fruit cold storage with intermittent loading/unloading and fluctuating load.

Applicable working conditions: Fruit fresh-keeping at 0～15℃, fully satisfied by single-stage compression.

Recommended refrigerants: R404A, R507, R134a; environmentally friendly refrigerant solutions can be customized.

2. Semi-Hermetic Screw Parallel Units (Large and Medium-Sized Fruit Logistics Cold Storage & Controlled Atmosphere Storage)

Applicable volume: Cold storage above 1,500m³, large warehousing and multi-temperature-zone fruit cold chain centers.

Typical models: HSK, CSH series screw compressors.

Advantages: Modular parallel connection of multiple units is supported with stepless capacity regulation ranging from 25% to 100%. It features high stability for 24-hour continuous operation and superior energy efficiency under partial load conditions, ideal for modern fruit cold storage with all-day operation and mass centralized loading/unloading.

Application scenarios: Long-term fresh-keeping warehouses for apples and pears, controlled atmosphere storage and partitioned cold storage with multiple temperature zones.

3. BITZER Scroll Packaged Units (Micro Cold Storage & Small Fresh-Keeping Rooms in Fruit Stores)

Applicable for fresh-keeping rooms within 50m³ for fruit shops.

Advantages: Compact structure, low noise and convenient installation. Disadvantage: Low cooling capacity for single unit, not suitable for large-scale warehousing.