For companies working in poultry processing, floorspace is often at a premium, and for those looking to expand their production area, minimizing space occupied by chilling systems is essential. This is where JBT’s new NEOCAT chiller comes in: a natural progression from the FATCAT Chiller, but with even more emphasis on reducing floorspace.
An immersion chill system featuring a brand new design, the NEOCAT, which is being rolled-out globally following successful trails in the US, has been developed to deliver a much higher pounds to linear foot ratio, in the process freeing up an extra 30% floorspace and enabling companies to increase processing throughput in facilities.
As Darin Chancellor, JBT’s Chillers & Refrigeration Division Manager for the Cooling & Applied Technology (CAT) brand, explains, the FATCAT itself was originally created in 2002 to reduce floorspace inside facilities to accommodate increasing line speeds and bird weights. With line speeds only continuing to get faster in the intervening years, floorspace has gradually become the most valued and expensive area in a poultry processing facility, leading to the development of the new NEOCAT.
“By designing the NEOCAT, we were aiming to target that same concept in terms of reducing floorspace and still being able to do the throughput facilities need to do,” says Chancellor. “The NEOCAT gives our customers the option of a 30% reduction in floorspace or a 30% increase in throughput depending on how you look at it.
“If you have 100 sq ft designated for a chiller, we can match your pounds in the NEOCAT over say 70 sq ft, freeing up 30 sq ft for increasing production.”
Largely used in conjunction with poultry processing, the NEOCAT also has extensive applications in turkey and fish processing.