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PlantBench / IQF freezer payback

Is an IQF freezer worth it on a 5,000 lb/hr line?

An IQF freezer is worth it on a 5,000 lb/hr line only after equipment cost is entered and the hours, product value, yield or quality, energy, and labor are the plant's. This page does not publish a payback. The freezer worksheet starts at 5,000 lb per hour and leaves equipment cost blank, so the first result is annual savings.

Defaults with no state selected

On these worksheet defaults, annual savings are $45,622.18. Payback, NPV, discounted payback, and IRR stay blank until equipment cost is entered.

Throughput
5,000 lb/hr
Schedule
8 h × 2 shifts × 5 days × 48 weeks
Wage, no state
$19.50/hr, burden 32%
Product value
$0.55/lb
Current loss
7%
Yield points
2
Labor reduction
18%
Person-hours per shift
16
Electricity
25 to 170 kWh per 1,000 lb
Electricity price
$0.085/kWh
Equipment cost
Blank

Annual lines

  • Labor7,680 h × 18% × $25.74$35,582.98
  • Yield19,200,000 lb × 2% × $0.55/lb$211,200.00
  • Waste192 tons × $40.00$7,680.00
  • Energy(480,000 - 3,264,000) kWh × $0.09 + (0 - 0) therms × $0.95-$236,640.00
  • MaintenanceEnter capex or a dollar amount. Current maintenance is a percent of replacement value × condition.$0.00
  • Downtime(80 - 20) h × $463.32$27,799.20
  • Water(0 - 0) gal/1,000 lb × 19,200 × $12.00/kgal$0.00
  • ConsumablesNot entered.Not entered
  • Capacity gainNot entered. No default. Extra sellable lb/yr × margin per lb.Not entered
  • QualityNot entered. No default. Fewer downgrades or rejects, percent × value per lb.Not entered
  • Avoided rebuildNot entered. No default. One-time dollars in a chosen year, not an annual saving.Not entered
  • Annual net savingsLabor + yield + waste + energy + maintenance + downtime + water + consumables + capacity + quality.$45,622.18

Annual throughput on this default is 19,200,000 lb. Capacity, quality, and avoided rebuild are not entered. Maintenance stays at $0.00 until equipment cost or a typed maintenance dollar amount is entered.

What does the 5,000 lb/hr case actually show?

Payback is net installed cost divided by annual savings when both are positive. Equipment cost has no default, so payback, NPV, discounted payback, and IRR stay blank. Throughput, the schedule, product value, yield points, a quality or capacity pair, kilowatt-hours, and labor each move annual savings. None of them is a published industry payback.

The figures under this section are the freezer worksheet defaults with no state selected. They are not a quote and not a recommendation to buy.

Where do energy and the wage come from?

The freezer default is 25 kWh per 1,000 lb on the current case and 170 kWh per 1,000 lb on the projected case. Those two intensities are worksheet assumptions, not a published electricity series. When projected kilowatt-hours are higher, energy is a cost and comes off the total. With no state selected the price is $0.085 per kWh, a planning rate. It is not the EIA 2025 U.S. industrial average of 8.62 cents per kWh.

Labor is person-hours times the labor-reduction percent times the loaded wage. The freezer default is 16 person-hours per shift and an 18 percent reduction. The no-state wage is $19.50 per hour plus a 32 percent burden. That wage is not the BLS OEWS May 2025 national mean of $24.81 for Production Occupations, SOC 51-0000, all industries.

Where do yield, quality, and capacity go?

Yield points recovered cannot exceed current loss. The freezer default current loss is 7 percent and the default yield points are 2. Product value starts at $0.55 per lb. A better price on the same pounds belongs in product value. Quality improvement and capacity gain have no default. Each counts only when both of its fields are entered.

This worksheet does not rank a tunnel freezer against a spiral freezer. It has one current case and one projected case. A second machine is a second option, with its own labor, yield, kilowatt-hours, and equipment cost.

Build an IQF freezer payback on the worksheet

  1. 1. Set the line. The worksheet starts at 5,000 lb per hour, 8 hours a shift, 2 shifts, 5 days, and 48 weeks, with no state selected. Replace the rate and the schedule with the line you are pricing.
  2. 2. Price labor, yield, and energy. Labor starts at 16 person-hours per shift and an 18 percent reduction. Current loss starts at 7 percent and yield points at 2, and yield points cannot exceed current loss. Electricity starts at 25 kWh per 1,000 lb current and 170 kWh per 1,000 lb projected. Those intensities are worksheet assumptions.
  3. 3. Leave unmeasured drivers blank. Quality and capacity have no default. Each counts only when both of its fields are entered. Do not type a quality premium and also raise product value for the same pounds.
  4. 4. Enter equipment cost. Payback, simple ROI, NPV, discounted payback, and IRR stay blank until equipment cost is entered. Blank install is 12 percent of that cost and blank freight is 3 percent when percent assumptions are on. There is no default equipment price.
  5. 5. Read the marks. The PDF marks a prefill you did not type as "(default — not entered)". A value you typed is unmarked. Change any default you cannot defend before the meeting.

Run it on the worksheet

Questions

Is there a typical IQF payback?

No. Payback is net installed cost divided by annual savings when both are positive. Equipment cost is blank until you type it, so this page does not publish a payback in months or years.

Does the sheet compare a tunnel with a spiral?

No. There is one current case and one projected case. Enter a second option if you want both machines on the same plant rates. This page does not publish a tunnel-versus-spiral energy or price ranking.

Why can energy be negative?

Energy dollars are (current kWh − projected kWh) times the electricity price. The freezer default projected intensity is 170 kWh per 1,000 lb and the current intensity is 25. When the projected figure is higher, the line is a cost.

Which electricity price is the 8.62 cents?

The EIA 2025 U.S. industrial average, 8.62 cents per kWh, is what a selected state can fall back to when the state cell was not published. With no state selected the sheet uses $0.085 per kWh, which is not that average. Replace it with the plant bill.