Ultracongelados Virto
Ultracongelados Virto
Ultracongelados Virto, leading food group of deep frozen vegetables, trusts in Noega Systems for the construction of its new rack clad deep freeze building in Funes (Navarra – Spain).
The Virto Group integrates the entire value process starting with the cultivation and harvesting of agricultural activity, betting on local production and directly controlling more than 30,000 hectares of crops with an annual output of 400,000 tons of raw materials, to the complete processing in their plants, deep freezing 240,000 tons of net product, and with a storage capacity of 200,000 pallets at a temperature below 22 ° C below zero and a direct workforce of 800+ people.
For its industrial complex in the business park Bodega Romana in the town of Funes (Navarra) opened in 2010, Noega Systems has made 2015 the design, manufacture and assembly of a deep freeze rack clad building for increasing production and storage capacity. The industrial plant in Funes specializes in potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, cauliflower, broccoli, chard, borage, olives, peppers and garlic sprouts.
The new rack clad building has a total height of 34,3 m. in its highest point, and total dimensions of 44,2 m. width and 88,6 m. in the length. Last loading level is at a height of 26,7 m.
The design temperature for this rack clad building was -25ºC and the warehouse has a total storage capacity of 18.850 pallet positions of 1.200 x 800 mm. with a maximum weight of 1.500 Kg. per loading unit. For the storage of these loading units the warehouse counts on 41.350 m. of rails on which move the shuttles.
The type of solution executed is with shuttles operated by 4 elevators and shuttles that carry the loading units into the required channel and storage level. Access to loading units is done through 2 aisles leading to the 10 load levels the warehouse is provided with.
The most important cost factor in the operation of a deep freeze warehouse as this, is the maintenance of the cold in the warehouse. The cost per cubic meter to be cooled is high, so besides having an adequate external insulation, it is key to achieve maximum storage density possible, so that for a given storage capacity the required volume is reduced as much as possible.
It is precisely here that Noega Systems through an evolved design and always keeping in mind the needs of the end user has been able to develop a solution that responds to this need, having achieved a very compact solution that serves the fundamental requirement: maximum load capacity in the smallest possible space.
One characteristic of this design is to avoid vertical bracings in the intermediate block to enable the satellite and the loading units can move from one aisle to another, giving the system more flexibility and better potential use.
Rack clad building solutions
Rack clad buildings are generally large warehouses where the racking meets the double function of storage equipment and permanent supporting structure, on which side and top cladding are fixed. They are therefore storage systems that are not within a building such as in-house racking equipment, but are the building itself.
From the point of view of design, rack clad buildings are designed to support the load to be stored, as well as efforts from handling equipment (such as elevators, cranes or satellite trucks).
Additionally and as the racking is not inside another building (as is the case of traditional racking in conventional warehouses), rack clad buildings must be designed in such a way that they can withstand wind and snow loads of the geographical area where the warehouse is located.
For the project developer, the rack clad building solution depending on the dimensions, loads, geographic location and product rotation, can be of great interest as civil construction works of a warehouse building to later fit in the racking can be avoided.
Shuttle operated storage systems
El sistema de almacenamiento con carro satélite es un sistema de almacenamiento compacto con el que se consigue alcanzar una elevada densidad de unidades de carga almacenadas, que cobra especial importancia en los almacenes frigoríficos por el coste que supone conseguir y mantener unas temperaturas tan reducidas de trabajo como en este caso de -25ºC.
Es a su vez un sistema de almacenamiento automático controlado por software, lo que permiten alcanzar una elevada productividad así como reducir los errores de la operativa normal, reduciéndose también el riesgo de daños para las personas al no haber operarios directamente trabajando en el almacén en condiciones de penosidad a temperaturas tan reducidas. También se reducen los daños directos a la estantería que son más probables que ocurran en una operativa manual con intervención humana más directa.
Specific solutions developed
Special attention has been paid to the general maintenance of the facility, prioritizing accessibility and safety of maintenance work. In this sense all corridors are equipped with metal grid passable at all times by technical staff when so required.
Additionally with a monopitch roof on the top, it was possible to achieve the neccesary height on one end in order to house the cold producing equipment (evaporators, fans, etc.). The peculiarity of the applied design is that this cold producting equipment is installed inside the building but insulated from the warehouse with a double chamber and specific structural elements of the roof that are easily removable that allows if necessary to make partial or total replacement of refrigeration equipment in a simple and economic way.
The dual chamber design, isolated and made independent, is intended to prevent the realization of the maintenance and repair of this equipment in cold environments of -25 ° C. This permits that in case of failure and to carry out the scheduled maintainance programm, the evaporators and fans can be moved to ambient temperature, later and after the completion of the work moved back to its predefined working temperature of 25ºC below zero.
On the roof structure, all neccesary measures for thermal insulation to avoid thermal bridges are taken, such as the installation of neopren plates on structural joints or using stainless steel screws, where they can leak frigories and contribute in this way to take maximum advantage of cooling cost.
With all technical guarantees
Noega Systems has completed the design, manufacture and installation of the rack clad building following and applying the specific norms of storage and quality in force and the most advanced calculation techniques. In turn, the facility has the CE marking according to EN 1090, mandatory for self-supporting storage systems since July 2014. With this certification, Virto has the full guarantee of having a warehouse that meets European safety standards for both people and goods, set by the European regulation 305/211 / EU.
Noega Systems has since last June 3, 2014 and in compliance with the requirements of Regulation 305/2011 / EU of the European Parliament, the certificate of CE marking according to EN 1090-1: 2009 / A1 2011 “execution of steel structures and aluminum structures. Requirements for conformity assessment of structural components.”
