Recognise that we have a social and environmental obligation and a business interest to be proactive in reducing our emissions and minimising our carbon footprint, we are committed to managing and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and their contribution to climate change. The consequences of climate change for our planet are far reaching, with impacts on water resources, agriculture and public health.
We recognise that climate change will have direct and indirect implications for our business and supply chain. We have a part to play in ensuring we use the best possible mix of energy sources while improving the energy efficiency of our operations.
• Improved energy efficiency • Switching to low carbon fuels
• Use of renewable energies • Innovative / New technologies
We recognise that our use of natural resources such as water has an impact on the environment. We are committed to managing and reducing our water consumption throughout our manufacturing operations and ensuring that all our wastewater is treated to the highest environmental standards.
We recognise that waste associated with our operations has an impact on the environment. We are committed to reducing the quantities we produce and proactively seek innovative ways of recycling our waste that have an environmental benefit.
We actively use reusable packaging in conjunction with our customers and suppliers and research methods how the environmental impact of our packaging can be reduced.
We recognise and understand the environmental impacts of our operations. We are committed to the safeguarding, protection and improvement of the environment for current and future generations.
Our projects to date have been recognised through awards from our customers and on a national level through the Green Awards and the SEAI Awards.
One of the energy saving technologies we at the QK Group have invested in is the installation of a heat pump.
Utilising waste heat from our refrigeration plant, the heat pump converts excess heat into high temperature heat energy. Cold water is then pumped through a heat exchanger to harvest this high temperature heat energy.
This form of heat is not only energy efficient it is also cost efficient, we estimate it costs 10% of normal heating costs and that the pump will pay for itself in less than two years.
The heat pump only works at night to reduce ‘maximum demand’ during the day. We also recover energy daily from the refrigeration plant by passing the supply water through a heat exchanger on the hot gas side of the plant (waste heat) and we also continuously circulate water from the hot water storage tank through a heat exchanger on the oil cooling of the compressor. This has the double benefit of heating the water and cooling the compressor oil that would have to cooled by ammonia. This reduces the heat load on the condensers. We also recover the cooling water that previously went down the drain and return it to the hot water tank.
We recognise that our business operations have an impact on resources and are committed to finding ways of recycling and saving on resources that have an environmental benefit.
During 2015 QK Meats decided to pioneer the use of greener condenser technology at our Southland Cold Storage complex. In agreement with HC Heat Exchangers the first Hybrid Condenser for a big ammonia plant was build and installed at our Southland plant.
Evaporative condensers
Traditionally ammonia refrigeration plants make use of evaporative condensers to reject the heat collected by the refrigeration system, to the atmosphere. The basic principle of operation is to circulate and spray water over the condenser coil while fans are ventilating air over the wet coil. This will evaporate a lot of the water and will cause the solids in the water to increase in concentration. Once the concentration of the solids in the water reaches a set level some of the water needs to be drained and replaced with fresh water to prevent scaling on the coils.
The water usage of the condensers serving a 16 000 pallet space complex is on average 30 000 liter per day. To put this amount of water into perspective, it is the same amount of water that is contained in an average size domestic swimming pool.
Hybrid condensers
Hybrid condensers do not circulate water over the condenser coil. Dry air is ventilated over a finned coil to reject the heat collected by the refrigeration system – However the air temperature is monitored and controlled to the design specification. To control the air temperature the air is passed over a wet
pack membrane.
During the winter and the biggest part of the evenings in the summer, no water is used by the hybrid condenser. On average the water usage is 25% of what an evaporative condenser would use for the same duty.
The benefits of using this technology are huge, approximately 22 500 liters of water is saved daily. This is more than 8.2 Million liters of water per year. Enough water to run about 40 households. (550L /HOUSEHOLD /DAY) The use of this technology reduced the company’s dependency on water supply. No chemical water treatment is required, less cleaning and maintenance is needed.
We continuously strive to be proactive in reducing our emissions and minimising our carbon footprint. We are committed to managing and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and their contribution to climate change.
We understand the consequences of climate change, the huge impact it is having on water resources, agriculture and public health. This phenomenon will also have direct and indirect implications on our organisation and supply chain.
We at the QK Group have a responsibility to ensure we make use of the best possible mix of energy sources while improving the energy efficiency of our operations.
• Improving our energy efficiency
• Switching to low carbon fuels
• Making use of renewable energies
• The research of new and innovative technologies
• Retaining membership of climate change agreements.
• Investing in the education and training of our personnel
We recognise that our use of natural resources, such as water, has a direct impact on the environment and we make every attempt to manage and reduce the amount we use throughout our manufacturing operations, ensuring that all wastewater is treated to the highest environmental standards.
We also understand that the waste associated with our operations has an environmental impact and are constantly researching new ways to reduce the amount of waste we produce. We also find the most effective ways of recycling our waste to the benefit of the environment. We constantly research recyclable packaging products and are committed to ensuring that we package using the minimal amount of material possible. The QK Group understands the environmental impacts of our operations and that we have a responsibility to safeguard protect and improve the environment for current and future generations.