Cold Rooms by the cold room kahuna.
Technology has come a long way. From lowering buckets into wells, to cool perishable products, to buildings built with porous walls with water trickling down which cools the room through evaporation to the use of mechanical refrigeration that employs a compression system which is used in the construction of modern cold rooms.
Cold Rooms are enclosed refrigerated spaces that use an evaporator located inside the unit and a condenser located outside the unit to maintain a proper unbroken cold chain by cooling the inside.
Design
Several Factors are considered when designing cold rooms such as size, budget, and intended use. The proper design will have a great impact on the effectiveness of the cold room system.
The elements that are involved in the construction of a cold room include:
- A structural support system that includes the internal and external steelwork.
- Insulation panel types. such as Polyurethane, Polystyrene, Styrofoam, and mineral wool
- Refrigeration systems, which has been described as the heart of any cold room.
- Vapor sealing. For the cold room to be effective long term, every joint and every penetration should be foamed and sealed making it water and vapor-tight.
- Floor design. The floors are reinforced to hold the equipment and produce they might hold.
Polyurethane
Proper design of the cold room will ensure proper insulation which will effectively lead to less work from the evaporators and condensers to maintain the temperature thus conserving electricity.
Polyurethane panels insulation with an average density of 45KG/M³. The standard panel width is 960mm with a maximum length of 6 meters.
Cold Room Kahuna also offers customized panels.
Types of cold rooms
There are several types of cold rooms in the HVAC industry. The type of cold room depends on either its application, its size, or the temperature range of the cold room.
The most commonly installed cold rooms include:
- Chiller cold rooms.
Chiller cold rooms have a temperature range of between 1°C and 8 °C. Ideal for storing products that need not be frozen, but chilled
- Walk-in freezers.
Walk-in Freezers operate t temperatures of between – 1°C and – 40°C.
- Combo cold rooms
Combo cold rooms have a combination of both chiller cold rooms and freezer cold rooms. They are suitable for products that require a wide range of temperatures.
- Ambient areas.
Ambient areas maintain a temperature of between 10°C and 30°C.
At cold room kahuna, we offer customized and modularized cold rooms, available in specific sizes, and configurations.
Components of a cold room
There are four main components in any cold room refrigeration system
- Compressor.
At the center of the cold room is the compressor. The compressor helps take out the hot pressurized refrigerant from the cold room evaporator system.
The compressor pressurizes the refrigerant gas which increases the temperature of the refrigerant as it moves to the heat exchanger. The heat is released outside the cold room and the refrigerant gas moves back to the cold room through an expansion valve. The pressurized refrigerant is vapourised as it enters the evaporator coils.
The refrigerant absorbs heat in the cold room and the cycle continues.
Though several types of compressors can be used in a cold room, the cold room kahuna uses reciprocating compressor scroll compressors that are either semi-hermetic or hermetic.
https://www.thecoldroomkahuna.com/product/bitzer-condensing-unit-condensing-units/
- Condenser
The condenser extracts heat from the refrigerant.
- Expansion valve.
The expansion valve controls the flow of the refrigerant in the cold room system. It removes pressure from the refrigerant which gives way to expansion and change of state from liquid refrigerant to vapor.
https://www.thecoldroomkahuna.com/product/cold-room-evaporator-unit/
- Evaporator coils
The fan blows cool air over the evaporator coils which cools the refrigerant. The evaporator coils then absorb heat from the cold room.
Increasing efficiency of the cold room.
Increase cold room efficiency through proper Door management.
Install air curtains at doors which will reduce temperature fluctuations whenever someone enters or exits the cold room. In addition to door air curtains, install door seals. Door seals come in all different designs such as a blade wiper style and gas-tight ripening doors.
Dealing with moisture and debris.
As you plan to install a cold room system always keep in mind that:
- If moisture enters the cold room system, it will interact with the refrigerant gas and oil and form acid which corrodes and breaks down the components.
- If debris gets into the system and interacts with the moisture,
The only way to avoid this is by using a sight glass and a filter drier.
A filter drier dries moisture and filters dust and debris. A proper drier filter will improve efficiency, extend the lifespan and reduce maintenance costs of the cold room.
A sight glass should be installed after the filter drier to ensure that the filter drier works properly. Here, there is an indicator that changes color when moisture threatens the cold room system.
The glass cover allows you to see the refrigerant as it flows, which makes it possible for you to watch out for bubbles, which indicate pressure drop as the refrigerant passes the filter which could be due to an ineffective filter drier or insufficient refrigerant which could be due to leakage. Most importantly, the presence of bubbles could be an indication that cooling is not being achieved.
Regulating temperature and pressure can have a major impact on the performance of the cold room. For example, using pressure switches to regulate pressure will not only control the pressure being released into the cold room system by the refrigerant gas, but it will also protect the components of the cold room by stopping the flow of the refrigerant should it exceed the safe operating limit.
Cold Rooms are a staple for restaurants, hotels, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, and any other institution that stores fresh, precooled, or frozen produce and the maintenance of a reliable temperature is important.
Why choose us?
Not all cold rooms are equal. Depending on the design, a cold room can be efficient, effective, and powerful, or it can be wasteful. The Cold Room Kahuna partners with leading manufacturers in the industry making sure that the components used to make up a high-performing cold room system.
The cold room kahuna walks hand in hand with our clients to promote the client’s vision and also meet the benchmark set by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) OzoneAction based on Performance, toxicity, operating Pressure, cost, availability, energy efficiency and Global Warming Potential(GWP)
Visit our website https://thecoldroomkahuna.com, https://www.thecoldroomkahuna.com/get-in-touch/ Get in touch with us at 0745105691 or email us at info@thecoldroomkahuna.com
