Located in central London, Hilton London Metropole is the largest Hilton Hotel outside of the United States.
As the incumbent Refrigeration Contractor for the site, we were asked to come up with a solution to replace the then redundant blast chillers in the main kitchen, and reduce the number of trolley’s required from 6 to 3.
With the kitchen being land locked on level 1 and the old redundant plant, again on a land locked roof 3 floors above, we began discussions with the hotels Head of Engineering and Executive Chef.
Many options were banded about, from a couple of small roll in integral units, to like for like replacement of what they previously had.
Integral units were too small for the kitchen operation, and a like for like set up was too large, as well as the budget to consider.
We managed to guide and assure the hotel that we could do something somewhere in the middle, that would both suit the kitchens operation and the hotels budget expectation with minimum disruption to a fully operational kitchen.
Our idea was to fully strip out the old Evaporators and Control Panels, modify and tidy up the main body of the old blast chillers and install a bespoke Refrigeration system and Control Panel.
BEFORE / AFTER
The next challenge was to find a suitable location for the new Condensing Unit, and work out a suitable pipe route through the sprawling building.
Not as difficult as we first thought and managed to gain permission to locate the condensing unit in a well ventilated plant room, just 1 floor above and approximately 50m away from the Blast Chiller.
Ref-Sol modified the existing pair of Blast Chillers and create the space required for the new Evaporators and Trolley’s. They also installed a new Door.
Considering what they had to work with, CCS made a fantastic job that both Ref-Sol and the hotel were very pleased with.
The Control Panel was bespoke and manufactured and is very easy for the client to operate.
We designed a twin Evaporator system using Kelvion KME models c/w modified high velocity Axial Fans, and a Danfoss Optyma Plus Condensing Unit.
The project was given 3 weeks to complete from start to finish. Ref-Sol completed this on time, within budget and with a few days to spare.
With the spare days we were able to remain on site for live testing of the new Blast Chiller, as well as providing training for the kitchen staff on how to use it correctly.
