There are two absolutes for milling high-quality grain for pasta and other food products: the processing facilities must be clean; and climate control systems must maintain temperature and humidity levels that prevent condensation. To meet those rigorous conditions the operators Caremoli USA retrofitted its Ames, Iowa grain processing plant with the HIGH-R Insulation System.

“We were looking to prevent dust and material buildup on ledges and surfaces in combination with insulating the facility for energy conservation,” says Stacy McCuddin, operations manager for the plant which processes a wide variety of cereal grain products for pasta, pizza, baked goods, ice cream and a wide variety of other food products.

Unlike traditional insulating methods where sheets of urethane are installed between trusses just below the decking of a metal building roof, HIGH-R Insulation System panels are mounted onto clips attached to the purlins at the base of the trusses. The cavity between the purlins and the roof decking is then filled with blown fiberglass, allowing for R-40 or greater insulation.

Installing the system at Caremoli offered unique challenges. A team of professional installers from HIGH-R had to complete the entire installation during a scheduled plant maintenance shutdown, and had to carefully work around a vast array of milling equipment that restricted the floor space available for erecting scaffolding.

McCuddin says HIGH-R not only rose to the installation challenges, but also provided Caremoli with an insulation system that assures the plant can meet stringent Food and Drug Administration sanitation requirements.

“It’s a very easy system to maintain,” McCuddin says. “It definitely helps in the winter months in holding the heat in and in holding out heat in the summer months.”