Chocolate factory

Toulouse, France
Chocolate factory
System: hydronic + AQX
Year 2022

INDUSTRY

Chocolate factory

The right temperature and air quality for the chocolate factory in Toulouse

The challenge

Good storage of chocolate is essential to maintain both taste and texture. Chocolate does not like changes in temperature. Cold hardens the inside of the chocolate and covers it with moisture, making it opaque and translucent as sugar crystals rise to the surface and dissolve in water vapor, then recrystallize, causing changes that can no longer be remedied. Heat, on the other hand, causes the cocoa butter to melt. Once the temperature drops, it cools and crystallizes, producing a whitish patina. Further changes to the chocolate can be caused by storage in the presence of foreign odors, which can be captured. The air conditioning system should therefore maintain a constant temperature of between 18 and 20°C, with a relative humidity of 55%, and ensure high air quality.

To meet these requirements, Clivet's French distributor Airwell in collaboration with the retailer ATIB supplied a hydronic system designed with Clivet products, including 7 air handling units (5 AQX and 2 SAHU) and a chiller, selected for their technical characteristics suitable to manage humidity, temperature and air quality in the chocolate factory.


Installed products:

  • 5 AQX air handling units 
  • 2 SAHU air handling units


The protagonists:

  • Retailer: ATIB Aéraulique Thermique Industrie Batiment, France
  • Clivet distributor: Airwell, France