Kashmir’s fruit season starts in May when the first crop of cherry is harvested. It is followed by pears and other fruits which hit the market in the following months. Apple is almost the last crop that hits the market in autumn. A bulk of the apples is exported to the markets in Delhi. Some of them is also sold in Bangalore, Mumbai, Ahmadabad and other cities since the harvest at its bloom cannot have good rates in the market due to rush of the harvest season so cold stores are needed to combat the low price of apples during the peak harvest season after the produce ibn the market gets high demand due to less availably and the cold store harvest is put into the market for good economical results so people prefer good refrigerant cold stores which are run mainly on refrigerants and ammonia is the most widely refrigerant used for the said technology

Ammonia is one of the oldest and most efficient refrigerants, widely used in industrial refrigeration, so is it used the same way in boosting the horticultural sector Particularly apple industry in Kashmir, due to its vast application Kashmir cold stores mostly are having ammonia refrigeration operating in the cold stores because of the applicable properties of ammonia gas like

Excellent thermodynamic efficiency (high COP)
High latent heat of vaporization → less refrigerant needed
Zero Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP = 0)
Zero Global Warming Potential (GWP = 0)
Low cost & widely available

The advancing properties of ammonia has made the gas as common gas in almost 90% of cold stores of Kashmir it is due to Very high energy efficient, environmentally friendly, Easy leak detection (strong odor), Excellent heat transfer properties.
Ammonia has been used in many cold stores of Kashmir in both ways like in the pump feed system and in the type of gravity feed system both applications are having good results and are delivering good standards for Kashmir apple industry.
Why people Prefer Ammonia refrigeration in cold stores of Kashmir
The cold stores in Kashmir require large, efficient systems capable of maintaining temperatures for extensive apple seasons, Kashmir produces over 20 lakh metric tons of apples annually, making it one of India’s largest apple producers. Cold storage especially Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage plays a key role in preserving apples after harvest, allowing growers to stabilize prices, reduce spoilage, and sell later in the season. Kashmir currently has over 100 cold storage units, mainly around SIDCO Lassipora (Pulwama), Shopian, Srinagar and other districts, with a combined capacity of hundreds of thousands of metric tons of apples.
Since the apple harvesting season is short and quick there are only 10 to 30 days to store the fruit and dip its core temperature and then a challenge ahead to put it in controlled atmosphere as different refrigerant is widely available in the market ammonia is preferred because it is having long-term energy and cost savings highly efficient methods for large-scale cold storage. There is pressure to cool down the produce quickly so as the fruit may not ripe and decay due to departure dipping delays and the fruit is to be kept under controlled atmosphere to combat the challenges the ammonia refrigeration is preferred in many cold storage areas of Kashmir.

Common Myths While Designing Refrigeration System

1.Since Kashmir is considered as far-flung area and is considered cold area were temperature hardly raised and creates problems for the refrigeration system to work but while designing the refrigeration system for Kashmir consider it as the rest of the country to design the efficient refrigeration system.
2. Since condenser is a primary equipment for extraction of the extra heat from the refrigerant during refrigeration cycle the designer typically design the condenser on air based cooling system that is air cooled condenser but in most of the industrial refrigeration units the air cooled condensers are failed as Kashmir is having hot and humid temperature during peak harvest seasons of apples and plums etc. at that time for air cooled condenser it becomes difficult to operate so design always water cooled condensation system for Kashmir region.
3.there are large scale cold stores in Kashmir since they store bulk quantity of fruits and vegetables so designers while design their systems for small scale industry should keep in mind that there is a vast industry lying on the backbone of refrigeration systems.
4.People In Kashmir believe in modern conception refrigeration and designing o their plants the traditional ways have gone now people are aware of the technology and the advances so while designing refrigeration systems for Kashmir keep modernization like systems Scada system, plc system based refrigeration.

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