Industrial cold storage is a large refrigeration space in which perishable foods such as meat, fish, or fruit can be stored to maintain their good conservation over time. The most efficient cold storages manage to maintain the color, texture, flavor, and smell of the food they are trying to preserve. In this guide, we will learn what is dry storage?
Despite what is generally believed, cold storage does not cool but extracts heat from the products placed there. To do this, chemical coolers are used which absorb the heat of the food by evaporating its liquids. Discover our selection of cold storage for your restaurants.
What is dry storage?
Do you want to know what is dry storage? Well, the dry storage zone of your business is where you stock cereals, rice, fruits, vegetables, and flour that don’t require a temperature control system.
Characteristics of cold storage:
It is necessary to explain the elements that make up cold storage and the relationships they have with each other in the refrigeration process:
– The compressor: is responsible for absorbing the refrigerant liquid and retaining it until it enters the condenser.
- Condenser: The refrigerant transmits the heat of the condensation and turns into a liquid state.
- Expansion valve: the liquid reaches the expansion valve, where it loses some of its heat. It enters the evaporator as a mixture of liquid and vapor.
- Evaporator: This mixture is brought to a boil under pressure and the fluid absorbs latent heat from the surroundings, cooling itself in turn.
In this way, the operation continues to expand and cool the air until the food reaches an optimum temperature. The cycle is repeated when the temperature exceeds a previously established limit.
The process:
During this process, the fluid changes from liquid to a gaseous state. In addition to the evaporator, refrigeration equipment installed in storage includes other components. This is the case of the gas compressor which works thanks to the action of an electric motor. It is a fundamental part of the functioning of the mechanism because it is what drives all the parts. On the other hand, there is the condenser, a heat exchanger that incorporates a corrugated pipe.
Also, there is the expansion valve. All these elements are connected by a system of copper pipes, which form a closed circuit. The refrigerant gas arrives hot from the cold storage and the compressor is responsible for increasing the pressure.
Once it has reached the right temperature and pressure, the gas changes to a liquid state in the condenser. The heat gives off passes through the walls of the pipe into the air thanks to the fins incorporated in the condenser. Then the liquefied gas reaches the expansion valve, where it loses pressure.
Thus, when it enters the evaporator, the gas is already cold and has no pressure, so it returns to the gaseous state. The heat is taken into the copper pipe, which cools and takes the heat energy from the air.
The intervention of the fan allows this air to pass into the evaporator, which removes the heat from the stored products. This high-temperature gas reaches the compressor, which completes the circuit. Thus, the operation continues to expand and cool the air and food until the optimum cold is reached. The cycle repeats when the set temperature is increased by approximately one degree.
Hope you have learned about what is dry storage of food? Call us for more information.
This blog is also worth reading for you:– how is cooling done in cold storage?
