Growers of protected crops conscious of saving energy are being pointed in the direction of Tranter International’s plate heat exchangers (PHE) for greenhouse disinfection equipment.

According to the firm, the products are resulting in substantial energy savings for flowers, fruit and vegetable growers around the world.

The Ecoster drain water disinfector is used to disinfect the drainage water from the greenhouses, and remove fungi, bacteria and viruses, prior to its re-use. A further benefit is said to be the fact that the disinfected water contains valuable fertilisers which would otherwise have to be flushed away and disposed of.

Ecoster is said to offer cost savings of up to 50 percent on fertilisers, depending on the drain percentage and the exact nature of the crop.

Disinfection is based on a straightforward heating principle and takes place in a continuous process. The incoming water is rapidly heated from around 20C to 95C and maintained at that temperature for 40 seconds.

Complete disinfection is guaranteed by a computed-based temperature control system. Tranter explains that the heat exchanger raises the temperature of the disinfector’s 20C intake water by up to 70C and requires to gas burner or additional heat exchanger to ‘add’ only another 5C.