Demand for customized cryogenic freezers keeps CES design and build teams busy.

Still riding on a high tide of business generated last year, the first quarter of 2008 was a busy time for Cryogenic Engineering Services (CES). Sales are reportedly brisk on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in Asia.

"Our order books are full, so there is no reason to complain," Hans Vanackere, chief executive officer of the Bissegem, Belgium-headquartered company, told Quick Frozen Foods International magazine. "Demand for cryogenic gas freezing systems has been good across most food processing sectors."

Just one day before QFFI's interview with Mr. Vanackere, CES sold a 76-foot long tunnel freezer to a major producer of ice cream cakes in the United States.

The USA branch of CES, which assembles custom-made equipment at a plant in Cincinnati, Ohio, recently supplied two top lifting nitrogen freezers to a leading player in North America's poultry industry.

"Our engineers designed the equipment to accommodate the plant's available floor space as well as to complement an existing line," explained the chief executive. "A hydraulic top lifting feature allows for easy maintenance and push-button cleaning of all internal components, thus eliminating the need for operators to manipulate heavy doors."

CES aims to expand production in the United States to assure continued competitiveness in that market, where the rising value of the euro in relation to the dollar is making European-manufactured freezing systems and components increasingly expensive for American buyers.

Closer to headquarters, in Belgium last year CES completed a "Total Cryogenic Project" at the factory of a large poultry processor. The job encompassed the installation of two tunnels with a total freezing length of 27 meters (88.5 feet) on a belt width of 1.22 meters (48 feet). They, too, were outfitted with a hydraulic opening top section to facilitate cleaning and ongoing assurance of hygienic conditions.

Both machines are equipped with specially designed in- and out-feed belts. The height difference between in-feed belts and tunnel belts is only 20 millimeters (0.78 feet).

The tunnels feature liquid nitrogen (LIN) injection systems on both in- and out-feed sections, which permits the user to activate go- or counter-flow of the gas. This results in less LIN consumption during the cooling and freezing process.

The two machines are controlled with one central PLC unit, and the user can program 100 different recipes in accordance with various specifications.

On the seafood front, CES installed a freezing line for one of continental Europe's biggest shrimp processors last year. This followed a previous refurbishment of the factory, during which time two multipass freezers measuring 44 meters (145 feet) were placed in service.

Meanwhile, a second spiral freezer was installed at a frozen fish plant in the United Kingdom.