Reduction of specific energy and carbon emission during fermentation and drying of salami

During fermentation and drying of salami, it is important to control both temperature and humidity in the chambers during production. This is done by both condensation and heating of the circulated storage air; thus, it is necessary to produce both cold ethylene and hot water for controlling this process. A Norwegian producer of salami replaced its refrigeration system from a 350kW R404a (cooling) and a 65kW R404a (freezing) compressor to a two stage CO2 550kW system. The new system was designed to utilise the surplus heat for hot water production, leading to a phase out of the existing fossil fuel driven boiler. The energy use and carbon emission were registered over 4 years from 2017 to 2020, before and after the replacement. It was shown that the new system reduced the specific energy by 25% and the carbon emission by 34%.