Dehumidification for energy-efficient cold storage
Uncontrolled humidity will impact cold room operations
Condensation, ice buildup, fog, and reduced energy efficiency are the warning signs. Moisture can make its way into cold storage facilities through loading dock doors, gaps in walls, and, ironically, through the people working in the room. Regardless of how moisture enters, it leads to operational problems and drives costs.
In cold stores (-0 °C), when warm air comes into contact with cold surfaces, it quickly freezes, resulting in frost and ice build-up on the floor, shelves, ceiling, and the cooling coils. In addition, fog tends to reduce the visibility.
In refrigerated warehouses and chilled rooms (+0 °C), excessive humidity leads to condensation, which can damage both packages and products in storage, and also risks laying the ground for mold and mildew growth.
In both cases, the cold stores as well as the chilled warehouses, operational efficiency is impacted, and there is a risk for increased energy consumption. There is no room for condensation, fog, frost, and ice in a cold storage facility. The most cost-effective moisture control system for industrial cold storage applications is desiccant dehumidification.
With excess humidity in cold stores, you risk:
- Operational inefficiencies – Trucks delayed and damaged barcodes disrupt workflow.
- Challenging conditions – Fog limits visibility; frost removal is a constant task.
- Worker safety – Slippery floors and falling ice endanger workers.
- Excess energy use – Frost buildup on cooling coils drives up energy consumption.
"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."
A cold store should not contain ice
If your cold store has a moisture problem, you probably battle some of these issues every day:
- Ice and frost buildup on surfaces and packages, hindering forklift trucks
- Frozen evaporator coils, reducing their cooling efficiency
- Barcode scanners don’t function correctly, affecting operational efficiency
- Fog and reduced visibility
- Icy floors and increased safety incidents
- Frequent defrosts and maintenance needed
- Higher energy consumption
But there is no reason to accept this situation. With dehumidification, you will eliminate ice from your cold store.
A chilled warehouse should not be humid
In a refrigerated, chilled warehouse, excessive humidity and condensation risk operational efficiency, as well as the quality of the products stored. Signs of excessive humidity include:
- Condensation on floors, walls, and the products
- Fog and reduced visibility
- Soggy cardboard cases that collapse when handled
- Mold and mildew growth
- Poor product quality and increased product waste
Caring for sustainable solutions by seeking to reduce product waste, it’s important to focus on the source of the problem – the moisture. With dehumidification, you will keep the relative humidity at optimal levels for your facilities and the products stored.
Industrial dehumidification for cold stores and chilled warehouses
Want to know how you can benefit from our desiccant dehumidification solutions?
Benefits of industrial dehumidifiers for cold stores
With a Munters desiccant dehumidification solution, you can remove moisture from your cold room and eliminate its impact on energy efficiency. Frequent defrosts to remove excessive moisture represent one of the largest expenses that operators of cold storage facilities face.
Energy savings of up to 5%
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 a few different ways:
- When moist air enters a cold room, it will condense and freeze on every surface it can. To remove ice, many facilities use heater strips in areas such as doors and floors. While they do prevent ice, using these in cold storage requires more energy to power the heater strips, and also increases cooling loads.
- One of the first places affected by frost buildup in a cold storage warehouse is the evaporator coils of the cooling system. As ice thickness increases, cooling efficiency plummets, and energy usage increases.
- Even if the evaporator coils are frost-free, high humidity can still increase the energy consumption, depending on the energy source.
With a desiccant dehumidification solution, moisture will be removed from your cold room or refrigerated warehouse, thereby reducing energy consumption. Munters' energy-efficient dehumidifiers are proven to provide energy savings of up to 5% for cold storage applications.
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.
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.
