Dutch ripening and cooling specialist Interko has unveiled a new EQH air cooling unit for the global horticulture industry. The cooler can be made to measure for a wide range of facilities, such as glasshouses and packhouses, and delivered to clients anywhere in the world.
According to the company, it runs off highly-efficient, energy-saving fans that are automatically speed-controlled, low in sound and exceed the ERP 2015 energy standard.
“We are entering a new market but Interko is no novice when it comes to cooling,” said Chris Maat, managing director and partner of the Dutch designer, manufacturer and installer of cooling systems and ripening rooms.
“In fact, we used to manufacturecoolers for the same purposemany years ago. EQHis a better unit though, as it’s extremely efficient and effective.”
Interko said the unit can be modified in terms of its size, capacity and number of fans. “There are manufacturers that can make the EQH cooler as standard, but Interko builds it to a modular design so it’s tailor-made to the client’s exact requirements,” Maat continued.
The company has already designed, built and installed a custom-fit EQH cooler for a glasshouse that cultivates flowers and plants. The firm is now working on a unit for the same client’s packhouse.
“This customer wanted to reduce the temperature in their glasshouse to extend the shelf-life of the products being grown there,” Maat explained. “But the cooler had to fit the size of the glasshouse to not block out the sunlight.”
The new EQH air cooler is made with a housing of powder-coatedaluminium or stainless steel. The tubes can be made from either copper or stainless steel, and the aluminium fins can be delivered with a protected coating,on request.
The standard unit fits a building height of 700mm, although Interko can adapt the dimensions to accommodate anything from one to five fans.
Interko is the global leader for the design, manufacture and installation of cost-effective, high quality and low-maintenance ripening rooms for fresh fruit, and cooling systems for the horticulture sector.
Since its creation the company has installed over 6,000 ripening rooms for bananas, avocados, mangoes, papayas and tomatoes – the earliest of which are still in operation and performing well today.
