Dehumidification for cold storage and refrigerated warehouses
Uncontrolled humidity can significantly impact cold storage operations
The symptoms of excess humidity in cold storage are hard to miss. Condensation, ice buildup, fog, and reduced energy efficiency are the warning signs of uncontrolled humidity. Moisture can make its way into cold storage warehouses and freezers through loading dock doors, gaps in walls, and even through the people working in the building.
Regardless of how moisture gets in, humidity leads to slippery floors, damaged product, slower operations, and higher energy bills. Defrost cycles and heating strips in problem areas can help control condensation, but they are expensive, inefficient, and only partially effective. The most cost-effective way to control humidity and condensation in cold storage facilities is desiccant dehumidification.
With excess humidity in your cold store, you risk:
- High energy costs
- Slower operations
- Damaged product
- Worker safety
"The condition of the cold store has greatly improved, and we are now snow and ice free for the first time in many years. We no longer have issues with the refrigeration equipment icing, blocking up and the cold store is now the best it’s ever been for excessive ice and snow build up on the walls and packaging."
Eliminate frost and ice from cold storage
If your cold storage facility has a moisture problem, you probably battle some or all of these issues every day:
- Ice and frost buildup on surfaces and product, obscuring barcodes and slowing operations
- Frozen evaporator coils and frequent defrost cycles
- Fog, icy floors, and increased safety incidents
- Higher energy costs
Frost and ice might seem like an inevitable part of cold storage, but they don’t have to be. With desiccant dehumidification, you can directly control the humidity that causes condensation – preventing ice from ever forming in your cold store.
Control condensation in refrigerated warehouse and coolers
When humid air comes into contact with cold surfaces found in refrigerated warehouses and coolers, the result is condensation. Condensation can lead to spoiled product, inefficient operations, and high energy costs.
When relative humidity is too high, you’ll notice:
- Moisture on floors and surfaces
- Fog and reduced visibility
- Soggy cardboard cases that collapse when handled
- Mold and mildew growth
- Product with short shelf life and high spoilage rates
But you don’t have to live with condensation in cold storage.
See how Munters desiccant dehumidifiers can control condensation in your cold storage facility
Benefits of desiccant dehumidification for cold storage facilities
With a Munters desiccant dehumidification system, you can precisely control relative humidity, which eliminates moisture problems at their source.
Increase cold storage energy efficiency
Energy for cooling represents one of the largest expenses that operators of cold storage facilities face, and humidity only makes cooling more expensive.
High humidity can increase cold storage energy usage in the following ways:
- When moist air enters a cold room, it will condense and freeze on every surface it can. To remove ice, many facilities turn to heaters in critical areas like doors and floors. While they do prevent ice, using heaters in cold storage requires more energy to power the heaters, and also increases cooling loads. Using heaters is like stepping on your car’s gas and brake pedals at the same time – leading to wasted energy and higher utility costs.
- One of the first places affected by frost buildup in a cold storage warehouse is the evaporator coils of your cooling system. As ice thickness increases, cooling efficiency plummets, and energy usage increases. To prevent this, most facilities have to run regular defrost cycles, which require even more energy.
- Even if your evaporator coils are frost-free, high humidity can still increase your energy consumption. It takes more energy to cool moist air because you must remove both sensible heat (to lower the temperature) and latent heat (to condense and remove moisture). The higher the relative humidity, the more energy it will take to cool it.
With a Munters desiccant dehumidifier, you can remove moisture from your cold storage and eliminate its impacts on energy efficiency. In many cases, Munters energy-efficient dehumidifiers can provide total energy savings of up to 30%.
Munters market-leading dehumidification solutions
Munters has the expertise to help you find the optimal solution that will increase operational efficiency and save big on energy. The solution might vary depending on your facility´s design. Sometimes the most efficient solution is to remove the moisture already in the cooling dock, and sometimes it’s better or necessary to focus on the cold room.
Inside the cold store: Munters IceDry 1400 AirC
Protect your cold storage from high humidity with the Munters IceDry 1400 AirC. The IceDry was designed specifically to remove moisture in cold storage facilities, refrigerated warehouses, walk-in coolers, and freezers. The IceDry works by removing moisture at the source – from the air in your cold storage, or infiltrating air at docks and anterooms.
The Munters IceDry offers industry-leading performance and energy efficiency in a stand-alone system that can be installed directly inside your cold storage. The system can operate independently in smaller cold rooms, or multiple units can be installed to protect larger warehouses.
For large cold storage facilities or refrigerated warehouses, the Munters ICA desiccant dehumidifier is the solution to moisture and condensation issues. This highly customizable system is available in many sizes and configurations that can be engineered to meet your needs.
The ICA offers energy-efficient humidity control and features double metal walls and a no-through metal design to prevent condensation. It can be integrated with your existing HVAC system and configured to include cooling capabilities.
Munters trustworthy ML series or MX series of dehumidifiers are the recommended choice when the situation calls for the dehumidifier to be placed outside of the actual cold room.
This highly customizable system is available in many sizes and configurations, engineered to meet your needs. From a smaller ML stand-alone unit or a medium-sized PLUS system, to a complete MX PLUS system for larger facilities, Munters offers energy-efficient control of temperature and humidity.
