Cooling needs are much greater than in domestic use, which is why a cold storage warehouse is used to ensure ideal refrigeration conditions for large quantities.

At Inditer, we explain that a cold storage warehouse represents a highly efficient solution in logistics systems for various industries that need to store and preserve products in optimal conditions over the long term.

Different industries such as food, chemical and pharmaceutical, as well as the services and hospitality industry, require the benefits of efficient refrigerated and freezing rooms to ensure product preservation and achieve significant savings in their processes.

That said, in this post we will look at what a cold storage warehouse is, how it is maintained, its importance, the advantages it brings to industry, and other relevant aspects.

What is a cold storage warehouse?

A cold storage warehouse or cold room is a generally large-scale refrigeration facility, whose purpose is to keep certain types of goods at low or very low temperatures, such as perishable foods like meat, fruit and fish, as well as other materials that require it.

A high-performance cold storage warehouse helps preserve the texture, flavour, colour and even the smell of stored foods.

It is worth noting that the technique of using low temperatures to store and preserve food products for a period dates back to the Middle Ages, when there was no advanced technology to create appliances and people began to rely on the cold found in basements and cellars to extend the shelf life of food. Later, they incorporated ice during winter, using snow-covered pits they called icehouses.

How is a cold storage warehouse built?

Cold storage warehouses are generally built using an insulating element known as a sandwich panel, which consists of two layers of pre-coated steel. Inside, it is filled with insulating foam (polyurethane or polyisocyanurate) to prevent temperature from passing through the surface.

Types of Refrigerated Rooms or Cold Storage Warehouses

Refrigerated rooms or cold storage warehouses are classified into two types:

Chilled storage, capable of preserving and storing food products, pharmaceutical-industry materials or clinical-sector items at controlled temperatures between 0°C and 10°C.
Frozen storage, which preserves goods at various freezing temperatures between -30°C and 0°C, according to storage needs.

The use of cold storage warehouses is global, as they make it possible to keep a wide range of foods and products in optimal condition thanks to their insulation and preservation capabilities.

How is a cold storage warehouse designed?

Every cold storage warehouse has the particular feature of using controlled temperature in order to keep various goods in good condition and thus extend their shelf life.

At an industrial level, it is essential to ensure that the supply chain includes the necessary mechanisms to maintain the cold in operations that require it.

By this we mean various elements that complement the efficiency of a cold storage warehouse, so that the appropriate technology for loading bays is taken into account, in order to also ensure the ideal temperature is maintained to keep goods in perfect condition during their time there.

Depending on each company’s specific characteristics, the cold storage warehouse will be designed in a certain way, and efficient results will be achieved thanks to the development of a customised model. However, the following factors must be considered:

The type of goods to be stored—whether food, pharmaceutical or clinical products—since each will have its own requirements.
Define the capacity for receiving and dispatching goods.
Loading bays and temporary-use buffers.
Warehouse distribution design or overall layout.
Number of orders to be dispatched daily.
Types of storage systems used.
Types of load unit.
Level of warehouse automation.

As for storage systems for a cold storage warehouse, it is advisable to have both manual and automated systems, capable of adapting to conditions involving low temperatures.

What other aspects should be considered when designing a cold storage warehouse?

An additional aspect to consider is shelving. With the right selection, the aim is to create a structure that helps maintain the cold inside the cold room.
For many cold storage warehouses, it is very convenient to have shelving models that match the structure of the cold room, in order to achieve self-supporting warehouses and thus optimise storage capacity.
Along these same lines, there is an urgent need for warehouses to have efficient cold room doors that are suited to the operating temperature inside the room.
Doors can be of various types—sliding, hinged or insulated curtain, among others. Their main function is to allow access to the inside of the room while preventing temperature loss.
Cold room doors play a fundamental role in ensuring the warehouse temperature. It should be noted that they can be part of an SAS, a safety system specially designed to prevent sudden changes inside by ensuring that the doors that make it up are not open at the same time.
Material-handling equipment can be manual or automated. If forklifts are required, they must be electric when operating in an enclosed area.
A cold storage warehouse needs a chamber or plenum at the top, evaporators, air circulation ducts and an insulated upper walkway to ensure maintenance of the structures.

Basic elements of a cold storage warehouse

Other fundamental elements within a cold room include:

1. Refrigeration equipment

One of the fundamental elements within a cold storage warehouse is the refrigeration equipment.

Depending on the type of product to be stored, its requirements and characteristics can be determined.

The target temperature, temperature changes from goods intake to storage, how long the product will be stored, the internal temperature difference compared to the external environment of the cold storage warehouse, the room dimensions, average product turnover, etc., must also be considered.

Once these values are defined and capacities and needs are analysed, it will be possible to determine the refrigeration thermal requirements to ensure maximum cold room efficiency.

2. Floors in cold rooms

The cold storage warehouse floor is very important to achieve the best performance results.

Some rooms require an insulated floor while others do not. Cold storage warehouses operating at temperatures above 0°C do not need a floor. It should be noted that it is advisable to install insulation in floors in rooms located above buildings, in order to prevent condensation.

With regard to freezing rooms, it should be emphasised that all of them must have an insulated floor, either using a panel plus reinforcement or it can also be built using an insulated concrete slab, in order to ensure thermal insulation at temperatures below 0°C.

How an industrial cold storage warehouse works

The first thing to bear in mind is that cold rooms are designed to remove heat from the products or materials stored inside.

How is this possible?

This heat or energy exchange process takes place thanks to the properties of the refrigerant liquid, which absorbs heat when it evaporates and releases heat when it condenses.

Inside the room, the refrigerant evaporation process takes place thanks to the evaporator. This equipment is responsible for exchanging energy between the refrigerant at low pressure and temperature and the air inside the room, with this exchange being forced by a fan.

The next step in the refrigeration cycle is the compressor’s suction of the refrigerant in a gaseous state, to move it from a low-pressure, low-temperature condition to a high-pressure, high-temperature one—conditions higher than those in the outside environment. This is where the condenser’s role begins: in a similar but opposite way to the evaporator, it causes the refrigerant to release heat.

Finally, after leaving the condenser at high pressure and temperature, the liquid refrigerant reaches an expansion valve, where throttled flow reduces the pressure and the refrigerant temperature, returning it to the evaporator.

On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that at some point a significant amount of ice may build up on the evaporator, in which case it is important to know the different methods of refrigeration defrosting.

The importance of the parts that make up the cold room

To know exactly how a cold storage warehouse works, it is necessary to understand each of the parts that make up the cold room and how they integrate into the refrigeration process:

Compressor: This thermal component draws the refrigerant from the evaporator and moves it to the condenser inlet.
Condenser: The device in which the refrigerant releases the heat it absorbed in the evaporator and is transformed into a liquid state.
Expansion valve: The liquid reaches the expansion valve, loses part of its heat and enters the evaporator transformed into a mixture of liquid and vapour.
Evaporator: In evaporators, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the room’s internal environment.

This is how the process is carried out over and over again, resulting in the cooling of the air, which in turn allows the stored foods or products to reach a suitable temperature for preservation.

Get the best cold storage warehouse with Inditer

If you are thinking about finally having your own cold storage warehouse, purchase all the necessary materials and systems by contacting Inditer. With us, you will achieve a professional result, delivered by expert professionals with extensive experience in the sector.

Finally, if you found this post helpful and interesting, we invite you to take a look at our blog, where you will find more similar articles about the heat exchanger sector.