Poultry Further Processing Facility Expansion
Scenario
A poultry processing facility in Gainesville, Georgia needed to reconfigure their existing plant layout to add new process lines, packaging automation, new VFT freezer, a larger storage freezer, and expanded cooler to meet current demand for its products.
The project ran from June 2022 to Nov 2026 and focused on supporting the refrigeration needs tied to that added production capacity and the removal and replacement of an existing refrigeration engine room (ER#1). The existing facility has two refrigeration engine rooms; one will remain and ER#1 will be replaced.
The project is currently in startup, with the additional cook line creating increased production capacity for the facility. The projects new engine room was started up a long time ago, Jan 2024. Since then, we have been replacing one room/area at a time. They demo an old room and add a new room one room at a time. Currently there is only the conversion of the freezer to a cooler left).
Challenges
The project was complex since the new facility had to remain operational during the demo and rebuild of each process room. New process rooms had to be added one at a time, before the demolition of the existing rooms and the new room added. This process was repeated over 8 project phases. The challenge was to keep the existing rooms operating while demolition was happening around those rooms. This required piping refrigeration equipment to other areas and engine rooms around the facility. The existing engine room #2, not being demoed, took on additional loads freeing up some of the existing loads on ER#1. A new engine room #3 was installed to handle the future freezer and cooler loads but was used temporarily to handle the existing freezer and cooler while the new rooms were being built.
A second new engine room (New ER#1) was added to the facility to handle the remaining loads from the existing ER#1 and the additional capacity created by the facility expansion. New engine room #1 was commissioned in January 2024 and the room conversions would continue over the next 3 years.
The project became more complex because the new production line also required changes to the facility’s existing refrigeration infrastructure. The new engine room needed to support the expansion and added cook process lines while also taking over refrigeration load from an older Engine Room #1.
The facility needed additional processing lines to meet a growing demand for its products. That created additional refrigeration requirements tied to the new cook process lines and the increased production capacity it was intended to create.
The new engine rooms also had to take over refrigeration load that was operating out of an Engine Room that would need to be abandoned to make room for additional process space. This added complexity because the project involved both new capacity and existing system responsibility.
Engine Room #1 was decommissioned once the new engine room was energized. Existing engine #1 loads had to be temporarily connected to other engine rooms until those process rooms were decommissioned and reconfigured as new processing. That transition required heavy coordination so existing, temporarily, and new loads could be converted and put online as required by the building sequence.
Results
The project is still in the last phase, but the system upgrades have created increased production capacity for the facility.
The new engine rooms were installed to support added process capacity and take over refrigeration load from Engine Room #1. Once the new engine room was energized, Engine Room #1 was decommissioned.
Together, the work supported three key outcomes: added refrigeration support for the new processes, transition of existing refrigeration load into the new engine rooms, and decommissioning of Engine Room #1 after the new engine rooms were energized.
Our Solution
We supported the project by helping to bring the new engine rooms online and coordinating the transition of the existing refrigeration loads. The work centered on making sure the new engine rooms could support both the new processes and the existing load it was taking over.
The two new engine rooms were installed to handle the refrigeration to support the facility’s added production capacity. The two new engine rooms support approximately 2,500 tons of refrigeration load.
The project team coordinated the transfer of refrigeration load from Engine Room #1 into the new engine rooms. This was a key part of the project because the new engine rooms had to support more than the added production line.
Once the new engine rooms was energized, Engine Room #1 was decommissioned. The changeover required coordination between the existing and new engine rooms, existing refrigeration load, and startup activities.
The system was coordinated through Navisworks, with pre-designed piping helping reduce field conflicts and keep installation moving efficiently.
Experienced technicians remained on site to support the customer team through startup, including training on daily rounds, safe pump-outs, and system tuning.
Sterling also provided a complete PSM (Process Safety Management) program and RMP (Risk Management Plan) study, along with step-by-step guidance through registration and implementation.