36 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk April/May 2024 Special Focus Hire Equipment While cold storage hire may be simpler than boiler or chiller hire, there are several requirements you should look for in a unit, and what needs to be considered during the installation process. Ralph Howes, Cold Store Major Accounts Manager, ICS Cool Energy explains further. Paying an important role in the cold supply chain, cold storage units are a very popular solution for organisations wanting the same thing - To help store their goods safely at a precise temperature, that can be positioned quickly with minimum disruption to site. Cold stores can be used in many different applications, frozen or perishable food and beverage products, or pharmaceutical goods. Prototype or New Product Development such as automotive manufacturers and engineering companies, may use the units for product endurance testing in extreme hot or cold conditions to replicate global climate conditions. This can remove the need for shipping prototype products around the world. A cold storage unit, also known as a refrigerated container, is based on a shipping container that has an integrated refrigeration system. Along with high quality insulation and intelligent controls, cold stores can maintain the temperature, humidity and atmosphere at a constant value. Designed to be easily transported, they are typically 10 ft, 20 ft, or 40 ft in length and welldesigned units should make it simple and easy to organise products, with the ability to fit pallets or racking systems inside. Why hire a cold storage unit? Hiring, rather than buying, is the go-to option for most organisations. If your business is expanding, you’ll want a solution that can grow with you, without the risk of investing capital. The fast installation process and modular nature of a cold storage unit means you can easily add more into your site as your needs increase. Hiring means you’ll have access to engineering specialists who can help you set up and manage your unit. The engineers will optimise the cold store for your specific requirements, which will help lower energy costs. The temperature control technology in the most advanced cold storage units is developing all the time. By hiring a unit, you’ll be able to easily swap to the latest tech should you need a more efficient or lower Global Warming Potential (GWP) alternative. Whilst cold storage hire may be simpler than boiler or chiller hire, there are several requirements you should look for in a unit, and what needs to be considered during the installation process. Requirements of a cold storage unit Not all cold store units are built the same, and most older models won’t have the technology needed to maintain optimal temperature and maximise efficiency. Temperature: Temperature control is why you want a cold storage unit and should be central to your hiring process. Check if the unit is capable of reaching your required temperature or temperature range needed to store your products. The standard range you’ll find on the market is -25°C to +25°C. ICS Cool Energy units have a range of -40°C to +30?C. If you need to go to a low temperature very quickly, there are ‘blast freezers’ or ‘super freezers’ that can reach -70°C. These are mostly used for blood plasma storage, valuable pharmaceuticals, or food products such as sushi-grade fish. Fast pull-down mode: Units that have a superior cooling capacity will have more power to reach your specified temperature much faster. Whilst you may not need freezing to -40°C, the fast pull-down ability will cool your product quicker to help maintain freshness and the product’s life. Ventilation: If your products are being chilled and not frozen, they will start to slowly ripen. This ripening process emits gases that will need to be removed from the unit, so fresh air ventilation is a must if you intend to store fruit and vegetables. The ventilation will also help remove excess heat from when you first fill the container with your produce. Our units feature advanced fresh air management technology as standard. On the unit controller you simply specify your desired fresh air rate and the intelligent control will do the rest. Humidity: The ability to regulate humidity will have a big effect on the temperature control and performance of the unit. Any moisture in the air or condensation from within could spoil your fresh produce. Therefore, the unit must have a dehumidification function to help control humidity. Our units can maintain humidity at +/- 2% a lowest setting of 50% RH. Drainage: To help prevent bacterial growth and cross contamination, drainage gullies and holes will help remove any excess water from Cold storage unit hire guide
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