Insulation is an effective method to maintain low temperature. Technically, it includes minimizing heat energy transmission between adjacent spaces. In this article, Kunming extruded board factory will explain how insulation of low-temperature warehouses is achieved, and emphasize the importance of strict design to ensure optimal operation of cold storage.
Most foods are perishable and deteriorate rapidly when exposed to ambient temperature. Historically, the use of cold preservation technology (through freezing or refrigeration) has been one of the common methods for long-term food preservation.
In the 20th century, cold storage began to be implemented on an industrial scale. From improving materials to maintain cold conditions to the construction of facilities and the use of high-tech cold rooms, research is crucial for developing more and more effective new and innovative solutions. Being able to preserve food for a long time has a significant impact on both society and the economy.
Evolution of thermal insulation
Thermal insulators are materials that resist the passage of energy. They are used in the construction of cold storage facilities to form a barrier that prevents energy transmission and keeps the interior at a suitable temperature. From an economic perspective, it is the best solution for energy saving. When building cold rooms, choosing the right materials is essential.
Historically, different materials and solutions have undergone multiple upgrades and transformations of insulation materials. The preservation industry has continued to develop over the past few decades, moving towards new systems and increasingly efficient.
Earlier insulation usually used cork together with tar vapor barriers, all fixed on building supports, hand-applied by bricklayers, with internal finishes of cement or ceramic. Later, cork was replaced by petroleum-derived organic materials, and this replacement was polystyrene board (XPS), mostly used for cold storage floors, but it still used tar to fit the walls.
Over time, the refrigeration industry has also introduced new products and modular technologies that eliminate the need to build walls, such as the high-strength sandwich panels currently used.
Sandwich cold storage panels
Due to the growing demand for industrial cold rooms and the expansion of technology, extruded boards have been developed. The use of these panels is also a major breakthrough in the field of construction and insulation. Panels bring together many advantages in the same product, among which the prominent ones are: modularity: they are easy to transport and assemble. They provide a wide range of core materials and metal plate cladding for walls, their characteristics depend on the usage of the panel, good moisture resistance, and controllable cost.
Nowadays, modern cold rooms are constructed from sandwich panels with polyurethane insulation cores, although the use of polyisocyanurate is increasing due to its good fire resistance.
Usually, cold storage panels are produced with widths between 1.10 and 1.20 m, which allows standardized transportation and facilitates assembly. They are cut to appropriate sizes on the production line to avoid cutting on site. And the longitudinal connection of panels is one of the key and delicate elements to consider during the assembly process. Each manufacturer provides its own solution. The connections of different sandwich panels must be precisely completed during on-site assembly and sealing to avoid heat transfer, water vapor entry and thermal bridging. For the current situation of sandwich panels, their characteristics and production processes are constantly being researched and developed to improve their quality and resistance. Cold storage panels used in cold rooms and industrial food processing plants, whether in the above-zero range (temperatures between 0 and 10 °C, docks or workshops), and in the below-zero area (freezing tunnels and frozen product storage rooms, usually at -25°C). Highly complex chambers have also been designed and built to operate at much lower temperatures, even reaching -60 °C. Under these conditions, placing metal shelves in the warehouse is a delicate matter.
The above is about extruded polystyrene boards being usable on cold storage floors, and the surroundings of the cold storage also need cold storage panels.
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