Indilin D~ityman 32, 7, 1980 pp 535-541

Design of Cold Storage

R.D. Verma and S.C. Sarma·

• The various techniques used for preservation - feasibility of designing a cold storage. The
of foods are chilling, freezing, dehydration, statistics of products to be stored, rate of
dehydrofreezing and freeze drying. All these production and marketing should be collected.
processes help in increasing the shelf life of The feasibillty report lays heavy stress on
foods, however, a refrigerated storage is financial implications.
essential for keeping the foods in fresh condi- The following points are to be considered
tion for 11 longer period. If an analysis is before deciding the selection of site :
carriedo.u t regarding the cost involved and (1) Convenience of producer and distributor.
changes 'ln quality taking place during these (2) Proximity of railway tracks and truck
food preservation processes, we can draw the highways to minimise the transportation
conclUsion that freeze drying is the best but also time and cost.
the CQstlieSt. Therefore, it may not be practi- (3) Adequate power and water supply.
C1IJly fea~ ble to use this method unless the food (4) Favourable soil conditions. If tbe soil
tu be preserved is very heat sensitive. Milk is soft then it may not be able to talee load
and milk products are highly perishable, and insulation has to be done for floors
therefor~, it these are not stored at specified which will be very costly.
temperawres, the growth of micro-organisms (5) Economic factors, cost of laud and other
will cause spoilage . The cold storages render construction costs etc.
invaluable services at reasonable cost in pre- Building location : The cold storage room
serving dairY products, such as milk. butter, should, as far as possible. be located on the cold
cheese, and other foods such as fruit, vegetables, side of the building. If there are more than one
fish andllleat etc. Tn minimising the construc- cold storage room, advantage can be taken
tion,running, and maintenance costs of cold of the wall of the adj a~nt cold room to save
storages,proper design and construction of cold on the amount of insulation needed. The
storage is essential. A cold storage for dairy room should be so 1<1io out that it fits into
pr oducts has to be designed by giving special plant movement, giving straight line flow of
(:onsiderations to heavy crating on the floor products. If possible, the milk cold storage
because of frequent loading and unloading and should be connected to bottle filler by chain
washing of the floors. This paper deals with conveyors which carry bottle crates to the cold
th~ procedure to be adopted in designing a cold storage through a crate passing door. Simi-
storage. larly, butter and cheese cold storage may be
be located near the butter and cheese making
Desig. of a cold stOl'aJ:e sections and the ice cream hardening room
near the ice cream freezer.
The design of a cold storage has to be done Building size: Whether the size is economi-
by the procedure described here. cally liable is a matter of utmost importance.
Economic feasibility: It is important that a Refrigeration duty per unit volume is larger
study is carried out to gauge the economic for a small cold storage as compared to a
- -~. -
.--

'Divisionof Dairy Engineering. National Daily Re-

big cold storage. This is mainly due to in-
search 1mtitute. Kamal 132 001. filtration caused by dooc opening and greater
535
 536 Indian Dairyman

average percentage of wall surface surrounded insulation is the thickness that will save the
byhig'h temperatures in case of small . cold greatest cost of energy \\lllile paying for its¢lf
stora~. The dimension of. the building can in an assigned period of time. However. the
be worked out on the basis of quantity of thickness of in5ulution has to be more t!ian the.
prodllct' being stored, type of containers and minimum thickness required to prevent COIl-·
method of storage. In a bottle-milk cold densation, which can he calculated; by u~ing
storage, five high stacks crates arc kept for the follO Wing equation:
which the height may normally be kept at 2.5
L ~s . k (tdp ~ !D
meters· In a bottle-cold storage. for 400 (10 - tdp)
bottles· (i litre capacity) per sq. meter of floor
where
area. 'for butter 600 kg. per Sq. meter of floor
area. .in ice cream hardening and storage L ~Thick ness of insulation.
roomS '000 Iitres per sq. meter in bulk and 500 Rs = Outside thermal resistance" Ilhs.
Htres ~ sq. meter in packages is kept when 3 hs ~ Film coefficient for heat convect:io.ll
high stacks are planned. Usually sufficient of ontside air.
space. for five days requirement is kept in the f.. =·TI;clmal conductivity of insulating
ice. cream hardening room. Normally in the materia l.
cold ~torages 40 % space is to be provided for /dp = Dew p oint temperature corresponp-
aisle, (movement). iug to outside conditions.
Therm.(;/I insulation and water vapour barrier: Ii =" Temperature on the inside surfac.:; ·o£
Thl; (lold storage walls. ceiling and floor are . cold storage.
insulated by providing suitable therma l in>ula- 10 ~ Dry bulb temperature of outside air.

tion or required thickness. An ideal insulation Maximu m overall heat tranSfer coefficient
is light,. durable, non-infiainable, moi.~ture ([I) values of cold storage surfaces should
resiStant, chemically inert, odourless, cheap, conform to IS 661 : 1974, some selected values
eaSy to apply and having low thermal conductio of which are shown in Table 2 for reference, .
vity. · The most common insulating materials Various types of vapour barriers such as
used ih cold storages are expanded polystryrene, structural sheets of Aluminium and stainless
glass wool, cork, saw dust or rice husk, foam steel, thin aluminium foils, treated papers,·
concrete and resin bonded mineral wool. plastic films and coating barriers such as sur-
The thermal and physical properties of each of face coating (mastics paints). and hotmelt
these are given in Table 1, which would help type (bitumin or tar) are used to prevent
in d.e¢iding Which out of these will be most suit- moisture transfer through the insulating
able [or a specific cold storage. The vapour material. Out of all these vapour barrie~s
barriet is placed on the hot side of the cold metal sheet with bitumin coating is the best'
stomge ·t o prevent moisture migration and to becau se the permeance in that case is zero but,
keep the insulation dry whic11 in turn would the cost s are high. Bitumin based coating
help to keep the refrigeration load reduced . is quite satisfactory and is comparatively cheap.
Though basically vapour barrier ha$ to be The permeance values of some of the vapoU(
provid¢d hut still tlle permeance to water barriers is shown in Table 3 which would help
'Vapour of insulation (g/m 2 /24 hr/ mlll of Hg) in deciding the type of vapour barrier to be useQ.
shOlild. also be considered. The permeance Coo/bIg load: The cooling load of cotd
of the insulating material should be as low as storage consists ofJoad due to heat t[ansmi~si(ln
POssible. The economical thickness of the through the insulated structure, product loa<!,
 Tafd. 1. Thermal and pbysieaJ properties of Insuladug mateNls.

Expand<;<! Sawdust Faom Resin bonded

Material Cork Ol_wool
polystyrene rice husk cone",'.. mineral wool

Dell$ity (kalm a) 15-30 l2(}""-160 24--48 120 -280 32(}""-480 48-80

Thcmal Conductivity at to' C. .028 (\8 kg/rn') .036 (180 kg/m 3 ) .035 (32 kg/m J ) .06 (120 ~/m') ·062 (320 kg/m s) .035 (48 kg/m S)

( Keal ) .025 (n kg/mB) .032 (37 kg/m') .05 (150 kg/mO) .072 (410 kgfm 3) .027 (80 kg/ro")
m hr°C .027 (48 kg/ml)
~
g'O'
Thennal diffusivity :.

l.S ~
( 8Kcp ) (m'/hrx 10-°) 0.65 2.8 0.6 .92 1.6
~
;;;:
Workin& temperalure limits 0c. +75 + 98 + 150 +90 +125 + 150 ~
-200 -180 - 30 + 5 + S - 30 ~
i:l
Penneance values of Insulating materials through 2.5 em thickness.
~

Water vapour transmission Expande<i Polystyrene Cork Gklsswool Sawdust Foam concrete
penneance.

(s/m'/24 hr/mm Hg.) 0 .40 1.7 8.5 14.3 5.6

Water absorption % weight. 0.3 4.9 2.3 42.S 13.S

Source: IS 661 : 1974 and ASHRAE Handbook 1972. 1977

.......
u.
 538 Tndian Dairyman

T.ble 1. Maxim... overall heat transfor co·efflcien! (TJ) valae. (Keal/llt-.. '- eel

SlQragc tcmpemture Thickness Exposed

Intennediate Roof Floor
('q mm waU.
' .~' .----~

-30 to-20 115 .15 .«<1 .12 .17

-20 to 15 )50 .18 .40 .15 .~
-15 to - 4 115 .20 .40 .18 .23
- 4 to + 2 100 ,23 .50 .21 .2$
2 (0 10 75 .30 .so .25 .40

Source : IS 661 ; 1974 and ASHRAE Hand book 1977.

Tabk> '3 . Permeance valoe. of '8po1lr b",riers, Product ,Load: (Above freezing point)
Q~MCI (t l - 12)
Pertneance
(g/m" /24 hrlmm Hg) Fl'Ozen Foods
"' j

Met.l sl!eet wi!.'> Bilumin coating 0.00 Q~MCI(ll-tl) +Mhi,+MCztt,+ 12)

Aluminiutp foil (0.01 mm thick) 0.0002
Polyethylene sheet (0.1 mm) 0,001 Where
Bitumin I1l!Sed coating (2 coats) 0.0]4 M=Mass of the product.
Cbloril)iltC!l rubbtr paints (2 coats) 0.15
C 1 ~Sp. heat of. the product (above freezing) . .
One co~t ~iimer+one coat glass paint 0.80
C2 =Sp. heat of the product (below freezing).
50urc<;'.; IS 661 : 1974.
hiFLatcnt heat of freezing.
t f=Freezing temperature.
11= Jnilial temperature of product.
infiltration load and heat from 01 her sources
12~Cold storage temperature.
such as lights, occupancy, other cquiplTlen.t5
like fans.:
defrosting equipments, etc. infiltration wad: Infiltration is due to the
opening of doors of the cold storage. When
Transmi'ssioll Load: The transmission load the doors are opened, hot air enters inside and
through, walls, roofs and floors can be calculat- causes this lo~d. If the door of the cold storage
ed as, $i:ven below: is kept open, the air velocity is 23 metres per
Q~UA (CLTD) minute.
Q. ~PVC.(t, - fl)
wher.e
(sensible)
CL1D=cooling load temperature difference.
V = Volum~ flow rate.
if =Overall heat transfer co-efficient.
.A =Area. p =Density of air.
Q =Cooling load. e" ~Specific beat of air at const. pressure.
CLTO 'values can be taken from ASHRAE t. =Outside air temperature.
(I 977}ror different types of construction. t, =Inside temperature of cold storage.
 Design of Cold Storage 539

load due 10 other sources: This includes the (The temperatures should be maintained by
louds due to' lighting (wattage of electricity fit- lc 1°C Indian Standards), ease of defrosting and
'!fngs), occupancy, and defrosting arrangements. proper air distribution. Room cooling equip-
Equipmen/ .telection: The decIsion on equip- ment may be forced air circulation (Fan coil
tnrnt sdcct.ion in"olves selection of refrigerant, unit, unit cooler, cold diffuser) or natural air
.~lmprcssor, automatic or manual control circulation (room cooling coil or bunker
.li}'stem , cooling coils for maintaining proper coil). In case of fan coil unit or cold diffuser,
~lJtive .hLJrnidity, type of condenser, use of there are problems of maintaining high Rh.
ibrced air, circulation or bore coils and stand· If the air velocity is high, moisture loss will be
by• unit. Both ammonia and freon can be more, thus higher Rh is necessary to prevent
ll.'>t.-o as refrigerant. Tn direct expansions sys- excessive dessication. To overcome this the
It')U using freon, air is directly treated whereas temperature difference between coil and inlet
in .indirect expansion (brine system), brine is air and also between inlet air and outlet air
d lilleu and then air is treated. Tn indirect should be kept as low as possible. This
expansion system mostly ammonia. is used as can be done by providing large coil area and
refrigeranL ·Reciprocating compressors are operating the same at higher temperature. In
1f<;cd for moSt of the cold storages. However such cases defrosting is easy because coil is
fbr about roo tons and abo"e capacity units, at one place and water can be drained easily.
'Centrifugal compressors are preferred. Different methods of defrosting such as cross
1"(>r frozen food storages less ·than - ·· lS·'C, over reverse flow through compressor to send
tIVo stage rL'Ciprocating compressors are used. hot discharge g~s to evaporator, portable
'TIle electric motor for running t he compressor defroster, and water defrosting system can be
~hould be selected on the basi~ of starting used. Figures I, 2, 3, and 4 indicate the flow
lorq ue whi\;h is generally higher than the diagram for these defrosting methods. Some-
tunning torque. Shell and tube condenser times electric heating is also used for defrosting.
'With cooling lower is suitable for cold storage. Excessive buildup of ice can be avoided by
Ro.om cooli1\/lequipment is required to keep frequent defrosting. In case of room cooling
Ulljform ilyof temperature and humimty. coil or bunker coil, the air velocity is lower,

·~:Oi;,"ON

-
OUICtu.Jion

----
II.IeTlOfiI

- , ,-DlKMU:K

.PEN .... nanD ,,-.

(.aa",r..- 0'"''

Fig ..!. Crossover valves reverSe lID'" through compressor; send hot discharg egas (0 evaporator.
540 Indian Dairyman

'ROST

tLOI£D--~

CO..aENSU
PEN

,
rt'~;;~--..-____ J
I REtE I VIER
I

£VAPOIIATOR UPANSIOM VALlE

,Fi~ 2. Hot-aas line on new system sends discharge lias to·evaporator instead of to the condenser.

SRINE LINE

CLOSE
VENT.

~,- THERMOSTt. T

POwat LWe:
fig. 3. Portable defroster carries hot brine directly to evaporator of large cold-storaF S)'IItem.
 Design of Cold Storage 541
therefore weight loss problem is reduced. .coil
can be put over the walking place. For proper
air distribution this sytem is better and bUl1ket
coils can be arranged to ensure almost idea!
air distribution. But this arrangement is qot
preferred because refrigeration system perfor"
manCe falls as bui ld up of trost on coil incre '3eso
and for cold storages with temperatures grea er
than 7.ero constant drip takes place. Ittis
important to give careful attention to he
selection of proper equipment and insulatitOJi,
materia 1 for the cold storage construction .10'
make it a profitable proposition.
'Ml S(CTIOH

References
...

E VAPOIUoTOR CO!~ J, Shalnagar, A ,P. (974). "Survey of cold ,totall!=S

in and around Ludbiana" Proceedings 3rd
National Symposium on Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning, Pl'. 148-157.
-
~. Sha T111a, SOS. (1978). "Design and construction
of dairy cold storages" Proceedings 6th National
Symposium on Refrigeration and Air ConditiOning,
pp. 2J-28,
\)IIA'N PNt
3. Venna, R.D. and Abichandani, H. (1974).
"Refrigeration requirement for a dairy pla.D.t~
Proceedings :1rd National Symposium on Rofri-
g.,.atioll and Air Conditioning, pp. 168·172.

4. lSI Standards on cold storages.

WATl!R
SUPPlY
S. ASHRAE ha ndbook (1972, 1977).
Fig. 4. WateNlefrosting syStem. ••