Optimizing the management and design of cold-storage warehouses

Foodstuffs are said to be perishable if their hygienic condition and/or commercial qualities are altered in such a way as to render them unfit for consumption, within a shorter period of time, the hotter the environment.

Keeping foodstuffs at a defined temperature below ambient does not improve their characteristics, but it does preserve their initial state of wholesomeness and slows down the deterioration of their nutritional and sensory qualities, according to the rule laid down by André Monvoisin a century ago, known as the Trépied frigorifique (refrigerated tripod):

• healthy product ;

• early cold ;

• continuous cold.

The application of the Tripod led to the introduction of the cold chain.

The main function of all fixed or mobile cold chain equipment is to cool foodstuffs as soon as possible and keep them at a defined temperature - the set temperature - from production to consumption or processing.

Temperature control is sufficient for short cold-storage periods, but not for long cold-storage periods, as other factors come into play and need to be taken into consideration...

Thus, in two cold rooms operating under refrigeration, rigorously identical (same dimensions, same construction and insulation), under the same external environmental conditions, normally loaded with the same product, maintained at the same set temperature, but not by the same refrigeration machines, we can observe significant differences in storage quality, in particular wilting.

In addition, there are certain guidelines to be observed when designing a refrigeration unit to meet the conditions for good storage: the required quality of the medium, minimum operating cost and near-minimum energy consumption.

The purpose of this dossier is to specify the means available to control and optimize storage conditions, namely :

• temperature ;

• relative humidity ;

• the composition of the atmosphere in storage rooms ;

• refrigeration design.