Share

IIR document

Comparison of insulation performances of various types of insulated boxes.

Number: pap. ID: 649

Author(s) : CAVALIER G., BOUDET N., LATCHAN F.

Summary

The use of small insulated boxes for refrigerated transport has strongly increased during the last ten years. Commonly used for the transport of food samples for a while, they are now used for transportation and distribution at an industrial level. In foodstuff cold chain, thousands of insulated and refrigerated boxes are now daily used by e-merchants for delivery of goods, they are also commonly utilised for B to B distribution of food to stores by agro industries. In pharmaceutical cold chain, insulated and refrigerated boxes are used for distribution to the pharmacies, but also for international transports on long distance. These transports can last from an hour to one week. Insulated boxes are generally equipped with passive refrigeration sources such as eutectic devices. During these transport operations, insulated boxes can be exposed to different climatic conditions like warm areas up to +60°C or very cold condition as low as -50°C. If the refrigeration capacity can contribute to stabilise and to maintain the temperature inside the box and to compensate the heat loss through the box, the insulation capacity is of tremendous importance. Different insulation materials and construction techniques are commonly used in the design of these insulated boxes. A test methodology as been developed to measure the global efficiency of the solution including box, refrigeration and load. This methodology has been standardised by the AFNOR NF S 77900 standard. This methodology requires a test for each specific configuration and does not allow comparison of the different test results and the corresponding boxes’ characteristics. Methodologies based on the measurement of the K coefficient which characterises the isolation properties of an insulated body have been used for decades to characterise transport insulation bodies. This study presents their adaptation to small insulated bodies in order to be applicable for insulated boxes and packaging. It presents the results of some 40 tests of different solutions and presents a comparison of their performances. It gives guidelines for the choice of materials and technologies and finally proposes adaptations of the insulation measurement test protocol.

Available documents

Format PDF

Pages: 7 p.

Available

  • Public price

    20 €

  • Member price*

    Free

* Best rate depending on membership category (see the detailed benefits of individual and corporate memberships).

Details

  • Original title: Comparison of insulation performances of various types of insulated boxes.
  • Record ID : 30002105
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: Regulation
  • Source: Proceedings of the 23rd IIR International Congress of Refrigeration: Prague, Czech Republic, August 21-26, 2011. Overarching theme: Refrigeration for Sustainable Development.
  • Publication date: 2011/08/21

Links


See other articles from the proceedings (569)
See the conference proceedings

Indexing