Sun-Maid Growers of California are using funds from the Food Production Investment Program to demonstrate how food-processing facilities can save energy and money while helping to advance the state’s climate and clean energy goals.
Workers in front of Sun-Maid facility
In 2019, Sun-Maid was awarded and matched an $806,000 grant to implement an optimized compressed air energy system at its dried fruit packing and processing facility in the city of Kingsburg. Processing and packaging raisins is an energy-intensive process that uses a large amount of compressed air. The new system at Sun-Maid uses an energy-efficient centrifugal compressor and heat recovery technology that will reduce GHG emissions, energy consumption, and operating costs.
Sun-Maid Engineering Manager Josh O’Bannon is pleased with the benefits of the project so far, including efficiency gains and reduced maintenance costs.
“Our highly skilled stationary engineers can now focus on more important duties related to putting raisins in the red box instead of babysitting the compressors, dryers, and cooling system,” O’Bannon said. “Because our compressed air encounters the raisins during the washing and cleaning process, it is an ingredient. Clean, dry, oil-free air is a must, and that is what this new compressed air system delivers.”
The Sun-Maid project helps demonstrate to manufacturing facilities and vendors of compressed air systems that energy efficiency upgrades are worth the investment. Reducing electricity and natural gas consumption at the Sun-Maid Kingsburg facility will also reduce emissions of criteria pollutants, helping to improve the overall health of the community.