The dramatic terminology assigned to blast freezers suggests a dynamic process, but the technology is really all about simplicity, simplicity and tiny crystals. In food technology, for example, storage yards freeze their product with one single intent. The foodstuff is to be frozen so that it can be transported or stored, and the only real goal in this process is to stop time. In slightly denser terms, the food has to freeze in such a way that it retains freshness and texture. Unfortunately, traditional freezing methods are too slow to accomplish this goal. The food freezes, but the moisture stored within the cells of the foodstuff expands as it cools, thus disrupting the soft tissue of meat and produce. Blast freezers sidestep this disruptive cooling action.
The Basics of High Velocity Cooling
Passive freezing technology uses a refrigeration unit and a fan, components that deliver a fine mist of chilly air across stacks of meat. These are highly functional devices, but they have problems, issues we covered in our opening. Meanwhile, coming in with a fiercely dynamic profile, blast freezers use high velocity fans to blow a mass of super-cooled air across the produce. The chamber where this subzero work takes place reduces the ambient temperature to a frozen -20°C, but this temperature plummet only represents part of the functionality of the technology. In truth, it’s the time taken to accomplish the freezing process that lays at the heart of the technology. For example, a high-quality model can usually take a local environment down to this frigid negative temperature point in a matter of hours.
Alternate Configurations for Alternate Cooling Roles
The closed chamber model is the easiest type to describe, but it’s also one of the least commercial. Newer, faster versions now dominate the blast freezing landscape. Still powered by impressively powerful cooling fans, the cold blast passes rapidly across special partitions to evenly freeze crates of fish or boxes of meat. High productivity versions of this configuration go further, veering past the stodgy old single-load version to adopt batch-loading configurations where the foodstuff is loaded on moving pallets and set up as a continuous flow system.
No bacterial growth takes place when the food is frozen with this blast technique, and no loss of freshness or micro-crystalline damage can take place. To all intents and purposes, the meat and produce is locked in time, sealed in a shell of freshness. Food management technology has quickly adopted this type of freezing to expand on storage and transportation options, keeping batches of catering resources locked in this state while to-be-used quantities are kept at hand for cooking. And, finally, consider the upshot of this technique. Blast frozen soft tissue keeps its colour, fragrance, texture, and taste. That’s the rapid freezing promise.
Laboratories run on precision, on an analytical work ethos that demands a sterile environment and a clinically austere setting. Every instrument and piece of equipment within the lab is calibrated to meet exacting standards. Temperature management is a critical part of this layout, an environmental factor that must be rigorously managed in order to keep science-based activity free of errors. In short form, sensitive chemical compounds and biological samples don’t react well to temperature changes. Thankfully, special laboratory freezers and refrigerators are designed with this knowledge in mind.
Masters of Dependable Refrigerated Storage
Place a lab sample, biological or non-biological, inside one of these precision cooling appliances and be assured of medical-grade refrigeration. In delivering this promise, microprocessor programming partners with digital readouts and state-of-the-art sensory electronics to maintain a uniform temperature profile. Next, a fan and venting assemblies keep the innards of the device scientifically attuned to the laboratory space. A fan circulates the air, distributing the cold air to every corner of the refrigerator. Next, environmental exactitude is applied to other airborne factors, such as humidity. Exacting environmental control attributes aside, the interior of each unit must also deliver on two other fronts, twin aspects we know as hygiene and compartment management. In other words, shelves and walls must be sterile and the compartments must be divided so that cross-contamination can be eliminated.
Usage Domains for Laboratory Freezers and Refrigerators
A dynamic application for a laboratory freezer is found in the storage of volatile chemicals, industrial-grade compounds that will explode if they’re exposed to the atmosphere. Alternatively but no less critical in application, these appliances store vaccines and blood samples. They use strong frames and thickly insulated panels to ensure heat loss is negated. Additional features and mechanical assemblies cope with door opening events, thus preventing the sample from being spoiled. Blood and plasma supplies are similarly protected, and research material receives even greater attention in the form of spoilage alarms and greater digital monitoring assets. The freezer variant of this concept goes deeper yet, taking samples far below zero degrees Celsius, a chilly realm that lays adjacent to cryogenic territory.
A handful of classifications guides the selection of laboratory freezers and refrigerators. Explosion-proof models use hardier housings and tighter seals to isolate volatile chemicals. Meanwhile, glass-fronted variants with rows of shelves equip research labs. At the end of the day, as long as reliability and hygiene crown the design philosophy, then the manufacturer is on the right path. A quick look inside will do the rest, showing off the compartments and spartan shelving, components that isolate the specimens and samples from each other, thus eliminating sample contamination. After installation, it’s all down to the lab personnel to keep this hygiene factor high by implementing a routine cleansing program.
Businesses prosper and expand, or maybe the owner simply makes a calculated decision to pick up and relocate to a new district, one that has a diverse clientele. And why not, when the practise is so straightforward? The operation packs its belongings and seamlessly swings back into motion in the new location. Of course, in the case of a restaurant or commercial food supplier, things take on a more complicated outlook, especially when it comes to handling that heavy-duty freezer sitting at the back of the kitchen. But don’t worry, there are specialist services in place to handle this eventuality.
Dismantling Coolrooms and Freezers Takes Technician Know-how
The good news is that most modern walk-in units are built with relocation in mind. They lock together as panels, and this building block pattern can easily be reversed. Dismantling and relocation services are still a necessary part of the operation, though, with the trained eye of a technician inspecting each panel for damage. A water damaged panel obviously shouldn’t be included in the relocation segment of the task, as it represents a weak link in the cooling chain. Any damaged panels should be replaced. Then there’s the compressor unit and the auxiliary electrical fixtures within the chamber, components that require attention from an engineer who has experience in mechanical and electrical principles. The engineer has to isolate this equipment from its electrical supply, detach the compressor from its housing, and make the disassembled parts safe to handle. But, all things being equal, a contemporary series of coolrooms and freezers should dismantle as easily as they were first assembled.
Preparing for Relocation Work
Thus far all of the focus has gone into the dismantling stage, but there’s work to be done at the new location before we pack the insulating panels, door seals, and auxiliary parts of the coolrooms and freezers into a transport. Is there enough space at the new kitchen? Is the electricity supply ready and up to the task of handling the compressor unit? A coolroom, naturally enough, consumes less energy than a walk-in freezer. Also, the walk-in freezer generates ice, meaning more drainage is needed when or if the need for a defrost cycle occurs. Effective dismantling and relocation services account for these issues before a single tool is employed.
A modular metal-clad series of panels quickly submits to an expert team, one that knows all the ins-and-outs of dismantling and relocation services. On the other hand, older installations require more consideration, thus representing a task that will partner with an expertly compiled relocation strategy, work that will take time and planning. In both eventualities, always place a second spotlight on the new location, on power supply needs, space, and new drainage channels, especially if the relocated unit is a wak-in freezer.
Today, most businesses rely on commercial freezers to turn a profit, without these, business is dead in the water. For businesses like floral sops, bakeries, coffee houses, restaurants, bars, medical laboratories, farms and many, many more that need commercial walk-in freezers to store perishable stocks such as food. This makes maintaining walk-in freezers of paramount importance for companies that depend on them. Not only is freezer performance important for preserving perishables, but for keeping electrical costs down as well.
Is Your Freezer Performance Costing You Money?
When your business’s freezer is not maintaining or achieving the proper temperature, stocks can get damaged or not last as long as they should and spoil. Or, your electrical bill is nearly twice as much as it normally is, that means your freezer’s performance is definitely a money problem. There are a few little known factors about that can affect your freezer performance; knowing them can help improve its efficiency, and at the same time identify what is causing your freezer to not run like new.
Bad rubber door seal – Keeping the cold air inside your freezer is important, because when the cold air escapes, your freezer has to work more to replace it. The biggest loss of cold is from old or damaged rubber door seals. Cold air slowly escapes, and then your freezer’s motor has to work harder than normal to compensate. Replacing the rubber seal around your door can save you ‘big’ bucks in electrical costs yearly.
Condenser coils – Because condenser coils are responsible for removing heat, not placing other heat generating equipment near to them can help them perform better. And, because dust can accumulate on them over time, cleaning them up can also greatly help your refrigerator motor to work more efficiently; achieving the desired temperature faster and using less electricity.
Age – How old is your freezer? If maintaining or achieving the desired temperature is not possible, and your freezer is more than 10 years old, then you may have more than one internal problem, especially if your freezer hasn’t been serviced frequently. Parts get old; they wear down and need to be replaced or repaired. Call a professional refrigerator repair and maintenance service to inspect your freezer that is the best solution. You may be surprised at what they find.
There are many other factors that affect the performance of your freezer and most of them involve simple, regular maintenance by a professional refrigeration company. Regular freezer maintenance is the absolute best way to ensure that your freezer runs like new, and last as long as it can.
Manufacturers are responsible for building walk-in freezers to exacting standards, specifications that typically zero in on energy savings and modern features. Product owners then follow their instruction manuals, reinforcing the prowess of a glacially cooled freezer by initiating sound loading policies. Unfortunately, even the best cooling appliances are only as good as their weakest link. Adequate door sealing for coolrooms and freezers prevents an entryway from becoming this system Achilles heel.
Keeping Cold Air In and Warm Air Out
The layout of a specialized cooling chamber is fairly consistent from one design to the next. Insulated panels stop thermal losses. A ventilation system, drainage apparatus, and a refrigeration unit form the core of the system, maintaining the frosty environment. It’s an efficient arrangement, except for one glaring weak spot; a portal is open to the outside, an entryway that allows staff access to the interior. This man-sized opening cuts into one of the walls and introduces a necessary but potentially costly design flaw. The solution to the issue is to fit a door and a hefty locking mechanism, a lever and clasp design that presses against a rubberised gasket. The partnership created by the door and its tightly stoppered gasket is a seal that prevents energy losses.
Door Seal Designs are Born of Extrusion Technology
Extruded rubber and soft plastics form the best barriers. Door Sealing for coolrooms and freezers benefit from this approach because the rubber will conform to any of the eccentric outlines and contours set in the door frame and thus form an airtight perimeter that surrounds the entire door. The effect is immediate, a rejection of ambient outside air and the maximization of environmental mastery within the confines of the cold room. The extruded profile of this rubber product once assumed a simple tubular shape, but many innovative forms of the product now exist. Additionally, hinged doors and sliding doors introduce different stress characteristics to the gasket. The fixtures must take account of these detrimental influences and imbue the product with mechanical strength. A poorly manufactured gasket would crack and leak warm air into the chamber within a few months of enthusiastic door closing, but a product fabricated from a high-quality rubber will absorb the brunt of every close/open cycle without weakening.
It’s only common sense, the installation of a robust door and an airtight seal. These leak-resistant fixtures stop energy losses, prevent refrigeration units aging prematurely, and place the savings in the owner’s wallet. It’s also recommended that the equipment and its fixtures be maintained periodically, as door sealing for coolrooms and freezers can experience mechanical damage and a weakening effect, one that’s caused by temperature spikes. Opt for the best possible gasket materials and avoid the bulk of these problems.
Thousands of customers consider cooling solutions everyday. They entertain catering-centric thoughts, wondering how effectively a commodity can be cooled or frozen so that it’s extra-fresh when it reaches the kitchen. What some patrons in the cooling industry tend to overlook is that there are other industries, applications where food storage protocols bow to the need for a controlled environment. More than a fast freezing agent, better than a uniformly cooled catering chamber, these high-end solutions deliver sealed controlled environment products, mechanisms that can generate nth degree temperature mastery. But why do we need this painstaking environmental dominance? To unravel the answer, we have to take a closer look at a laboratory.
A lab in a hospital or any scientific installation is defined by its clinical surroundings. A sterile backdrop is a must, as is the separation of the environment from outside influences. Temperature changes, apart from those initiated by lab personnel, simply cannot be afforded in this scenario. Imagine all the diagnostic samples and bacterial cultures in this room. These biological materials are hugely susceptible to the smallest change in temperature. A small environmentally maintained cabinet will remove this chaotic factor from the scene, leaving the samples to grow at a consistent rate as determined by research scientists and laboratory staff. In other words, dominion over one of the most influential factors in an experimental setting has been handed over to the lab staff, leaving this highly qualified medical expert to either maintain the environment or intelligently alter applied heat so as to change the experimental variables at the touch of a dial.
Thus far we’ve talked about the alteration of temperature, the cooling of a special cabinet or walk-in chamber full of samples and pharmaceuticals, but some of these biological materials require even greater care. Airflow settings have to be managed. The humidity of the enclosed space is equally evaluated, leading to the requirement for an advanced monitoring system. It’s simply not enough to push a button, twist a dial, and hope for the right controlled environment in this carefully managed scenario. Some form of electronic monitoring samples humidity and checks temperature, returning these values to on a digital readout and thus insuring the validity of the clinical setting.
Finally, it’s a tad ironic but these laboratory environments also have a direct influence on food, although this is edible material as held in a controlled framework. New foodstuffs are evaluated for content everyday within these laboratories and regulated according to governmental bodies, such as the FDA (America) and the TGA (Australia)
Blast freezing may employ dynamic phraseology to describe a fast chilling process, but the dramatic terminology actually outlines a necessary process with valid scientific actions.
The Anatomy of A Blast Freeze Operation
We illustrate the necessity of this rapid cooling mechanism by delving deep into the structure of organic matter. Fish and soft vegetable produce can easily be frozen, but ice crystals will inevitably form within the cellular walls of these goods when cooling proceeds at its native pace. These crystals rupture cell walls as the crystals expand, causing the fine tissue of meat and vegetables to degenerate into a spongy mess.
Thankfully, modern freezers work fast to ensure crystallization is minimized, but, for a truly high-quality freeze cycle that can defrost without causing damage to stored goods, air blast freezers are the way to go. These workhorse machines push icy air into freezer chambers so fast that ice crystals are minimized to the point that they cannot affect the cells of goods. The result is a dramatic increase in produce quality, an effect that becomes readily apparent when edible goods are defrosted for consumption.
Types of Air Blast Freezers
Powerful electric fans equipped with large blades work in banks to drive cold air across a wide range of products. Industry-standard air blast freezers are represented by the following two types:
A number of other parts can be added to these two core configurations to finesse the freeze cycle. Chamber baffles and alternative airflow patterns increase air distribution, thus maximizing uniform cooling.
Finally, the decision to employ either of these two techniques is rooted in the material properties of the processed goods. For example, produce that can’t be frozen quickly wouldn’t fit the fast operation of a continuously operating model. Conversely, this fast moving blast freezer is well suited for production environments, whereas the batch model would excel in a long-term freezing solution, an environment where storage concerns are the order of the day.
Walk-in coolers / freezers afford larger storage capacity and shorter shipment intervals. They are installed outdoors and in residences as well as for commercial uses. Walk-in coolers and cold storage units are predominantly constructed using modular insulated cooler panels. All wall, floor, and door cooler panels must be interchangeable for fast and easy installation.
Basic Walk-In Panel Specifications
Walk-in freezer panels are metal pans constructed with an inner and outer metal skin and (typ. 4 in.) insulation core. The panels have cam-action locking devices and airtight gaskets to prevent air permeation between panels.
• The freezer panels’ interior / exterior metal skin is specifically, uniformly, and accurately fabricated from steel dies by roll-form equipment.
• The freezer panel insulation is typically ridged “foamed-in-place” polyurethane bound to the metal skins and cam-action locking devices when heated. Internal wood, metal, or high-density urethane structural members are not used unless expressly required.
• Freezer panel edges are tongue and groove “foamed-in-place” to ensure airtight and vapor-proof joints.
• The flexible, vinyl gasket runs the length of the interior and exterior perimeter of every male panel edge. It must be water, oil, grease, detergent, and sunlight resistant as well as flame retardant.
• (Fresh) R-values are between 25 and 40 (e.g.: 3-1/2-in. cooler panels R-value: 25; 4-in. cooler/freezer panels R-value: 32; 5-in. freezer panels R-value: 40).
Modular Walk-In Freezer Panels
Modular walk-in freezer panels are fastened to an outer tongue-and-grooved frame that secures their positions and provides secure seals.
Panel Fasteners
Panel fasteners should be airtight cam-locks. Fastener material consists of a hardened steel housing, hook, and high pressure die cast zinc cam pin. Fastener hooks connect with the pin to tightly lock the panels together. Lock spacing is specified to be no more than 48 in. on center.
Panel Gaskets
Each bulb-type PVC (polyvinyl chloride) must be a factory-installed, water- and vapor-resistant double-lined compression gasket. They must also be chemical corrosion- and ultraviolet-resistant.
Panel Finishes
Metal interior and exterior pans are available in a variety of types and finishes including:
• 26 gauge, painted or non-painted embossed galvanized steel,
• 22 gauge, #4 finish, Type 304 stainless steel,
• 26 gauge, non-painted embossed galvalume,
• 0.032-in. non-painted embossed aluminum, or
• 0.032-in. white embossed aluminum.
Standard floor finishes must be 0.080 in. smooth aluminum, which must exceed 1/2 in. CD-X-grade plywood. Special request aluminum smooth panel finishes and paint colors may be available upon request.
There are also optional metal floor panel finishes available, which include:
• low-profile aluminum treadplate,
• 22 gaulge, #2B finish, Type 304 smooth stainless steel,
• 18 gauge, #2B finish, Type 304 smooth stainless steel,
• 16 gauge, #2B finish, Type 304 smooth stainless steel,
• 14 gauge, steel diamond tread layer installed over a standard floor finish base,
• 3/16 in. aluminum diamond tread layer installed over a standard floor finish.
Cooling technology represents a mature and well-established storage format, one that can safely contain perishable items for extended periods. Engineering rules in this frosty industry are set by health and safety, crucial factors that can only be guaranteed by adopting a high quality parts selection model. In effect, you’re making a pledge to the business venture, a promise to support the equipment by providing the right parts. Of course, in more practical terms, you’re also making a commitment to spend large sums of cash and to reserve precious kitchen space, so parts quality is paramount in upholding this endeavor.
Select the Right Parts to Ensure Optimal Cooling
Make a business driven pact to protect this investment by always opting for the best parts. The assumption here would be to guess that we’re referring to the active components in the system, the belt drives and refrigeration modules that keep the room chilled. A CM Coolrooms technician considers this type of work as ongoing support, as repair and maintenance. These services are part of our after-market installation mission statement, but this support model does not demonstrate our full pledge to your operation. In fact, our high quality parts promise goes far beyond standard repairs and scheduled maintenance tasks by providing the following:
As you can clearly see, the CM Coolrooms parts promise targets every component within your coolroom or walk-in freezer. There are no unimportant parts within this hugely important sealed chamber. Replacement insulation panels built from space-age composites are obviously critical to the efficient running of the equipment, meaning we stock the very best part for the job. But this high-quality replacement parts ethic also extends to cover strip curtains and latch assemblies. Such parts may seem unimportant when compared to dynamic refrigeration modules and wall insulating assets, but we believe every single components is deserving of consideration, especially when we equate the merits of the overall system against public hygiene.
Explore Our Resources for the Right Parts
Scrutinize our catalogue and call our representatives to discuss replacement parts and upgrades. Our components are designed to reinforce the function of your system and the robust structure of your cooling mechanism. You’ll also have access to parts that target every section of the climate controlled space. Each part is engineered to operate within specific temperature ranges, so we can suggest system replacements that fit either your freezer or your coolroom. These choices account for expansion characteristics of selected materials and the mechanical properties of a diverse selection of polymers and metals. In short, we provide freezer and coolroom parts and we guarantee that everything is right for your needs.
A coolroom is an invaluable resource. The optimal temperature within the room hovers between +0°C and +4°C, thus keeping perishable items safely stored and water chilly but fluid. This is the sweet spot for keeping wine and beverages cold but still ice-free. These bottled alcoholic beverages and their non-alcoholic relatives make for a straightforward example of a product that can be seen every day within coolroom enclosures. But, not content to settle on bottled liquids, we want to pose other questions, inquiries that will clarify what other exotic products can be legally stored in coolrooms. Without further ado, let’s explore the cool realms and near frosty habitats that populate commercial and industrial facilities.
Floral Establishments
Freshness is the single most important aspect to consider when caring for flowers. When achieving this goal within the home, you pull out a vase and puff a few vaporized clouds of water onto dry petals. When the scale grows to floral business size, a scope that can encompass hundreds of flowering plants, business logistics can assume nightmarish proportions. All those flowers have to be delivered, but they also have to be kept fresh until the driver can load them in the back of an air conditioned truck. A glass-encased coolroom is the ideal solution. The cool temperature keeps life-sustaining water from evaporating and flowering plants dormant until delivery time swings around.
Wine and Beverage Storage
We’ve touched on this example already but purposefully omitted just how versatile this configuration can become. Beverage storage can be as simple as a fully enclosed coolroom within a winery or as complex as a multi-entrance model within a supermarket. The service entrance allows egress from an alley and a ramp. Meanwhile, rows of glass-fronted doors act as a display front and show off the bottles of wine, soda and fruit juice.
Taking a Coolroom on the Road
This ambitious business model adds portability to standard temperature control features. The cooling apparatus is then powered by the accompanying vehicle or a standalone generator. It’s really an ideal solution for garden parties and banquets, for remote movie shoots and wedding receptions where prepared food is kept on hand for hungry guests.
Scientific and Medical Research Facilities
Improper storage conditions represent a very dangerous issue when keeping drugs potent. This is more of an issue regarding potency than freshness but the two terms are considered equivalent variables in this case. Special scientific coolrooms with super-precise thermostatic controls are the hallmarks of these devices. Reliable airflow and the minimization of humidity is crucial within the medical research domain.
Fresh storage is where coolroom applications abound, but it only takes a moment’s thought to break away from these applications. A morgue or a forensic laboratory depends on the time-stoppage traits of these cooling environments, as do a multitude of other usage areas.
A handful of mechanisms can be quoted by historians as major life-changers, the devices that granted us dominion over a higher quality of life. A machine that can turn water into ice and change a swelteringly hot room into an icy chamber definitely makes it onto this list. A freezer achieves this modern magic by taking advantage of the laws of thermodynamics. On looking behind the metaphorical curtains, the magic is really more of a scientific principle, one known as heat transferal through the compression and expansion of chemical gases. The components in this cooling and heating cycle harness some handy laws of physics, but let’s leapfrog intangible concepts and gain an understanding of the components that realize this theory.
1. An Insulated Cooling Space
A walk-in freezer uses insulating panels with a superior R-factor (thermal efficiency rating). A durable metal construction and the installation of state-of-the-art insulating materials count for everything in this design.
2. The Vaporized Refrigerant
Eco-friendly and highly efficient, HFCs, HCFCs and CFCs are the standard compounds used within freezer, though these highly regulated chemicals are currently being phased out due to their ozone layer depletion properties. Mainly speaking, potential environmental impact should be balanced by superior physical properties.
The Mechanics of the System
The working parts of a freezer include the following basic components:
The body of parts, when assembled, forms a circuit. The refrigerant passes into the compressor. The sealed vessel converts the low-pressure gas into a pressurized liquid, a change of state that produces heat behind the freezer. The vessel has to be rated to contain the pressure and to then pump the hot liquid to the next stage. The circuit concludes with the condenser coils and the evaporator coils, stages that harness those laws of thermodynamics we mentioned earlier. The evaporator coils receive the refrigerant as it rises in pressure and changes state once more, moving from liquid back to gas. The working fluid, refrigerant, acts as the transferal medium, absorbing and rejecting heat, with the expansion valve regulating the thermodynamic state of the refrigerant. An electric fan then blows the resulting mist of freezing-cold air. All of this freezing air is produced as a direct consequence of heat absorption as caused by the evaporation and pressure drop phase when the refrigerant pushes through the evaporative coil on its return voyage back to the compressor.
Compressor and fluid, condenser coil and evaporator coils, all are crucial parts in a freezer. Notably, when this arrangement is scaled up to handle walk-in freezer layouts, the system assumes an even more complex profile. Additional fans can enter the configuration to funnel away heat generated by the compressor, though passive cooling systems are typically adequate for this purpose.
A coolroom is classed as an enclosed construct, a room that maintains a climate controlled environment. The temperature encountered in this space is set above freezing point and below 4°C, thus ice does not form. Capable of keeping shelved food or pharmaceuticals stably stockpiled for extended periods of time, these enclosures are found in hotels, restaurants, markets, and medical laboratories. They play a prominent role in everything from the storage of consumer products, including beverages and groceries, and extend their functionality to the containment of medical-grade drugs. Undoubtedly classed as an essential storage space within any commercial venture, coolrooms are defined by storage medium, application needs, and internal layout.
Equip the space with a hinged or sliding door. A gasket seal is used in both instances, though the hinged door naturally provides better compression, hence a superior closure experience. Of course, superior though the standard door profile may appear, a sliding door does offer extended spatial clearance features. The interior layout then flows from the door and the size of the chamber. A 75mm thick insulation panel outline typically surrounds this space and ensures the stored matter stays uniformly cool, with concrete or an equivalent high-compression flooring profile delivering sustained loading alongside superior insulating properties.
Coolroom layouts vary widely, with the positioning of assets finding their profile from the usage pattern of the area. For example, a beverage space with customer access would have glass doors out in the market area but be loaded behind the scenes. Thus, a series of glass doors, an open loading space, and a ramped double door configuration would fulfil this high-capacity arrangement.
Other components in the basic layout of a coolroom include lighting and a low output refrigeration unit, electrical assemblies that provide cooling and illumination for workers. The next asset would be tables and hygiene-focused furnishings, fixtures that won’t corrode or provide a breeding place for bacteria. Ventilation ducts and exhaust points are provided at ceiling height. Meanwhile, sealed conduits and plumbing fixtures are affixed to the walls. Depending on the application of the room, these fixtures may provide tapping points for large beer canisters, drainage zones for work stations, and self-contained storage shelves should the application involve a medical scenario. One wall is typically kept empty of features. This provides a blank space for stacking floor-to-ceiling shelving, flat platforms where Tupperware containers, canned items, and other coolroom-approved produce can be stockpiled.
Whatever the application, establish the layout with kitchen staff or laboratory personnel. Finally, avoid clutter and keep stored item capacity below the 66 percent mark to ensure airflow is maximized.
C&M Coolrooms can create a custom solution for your specific needs. Talk to one of team members today.