Trouble-free pharma transport with Phase Change Material
Refrigerated and conditioned transport is a business in its own right. Take pharmaceuticals. It is crucial that pharmaceutical products remain stable at temperature or are properly refrigerated. Do medicines get heated? Or do they get too cold? Then you can throw the shipment away. With claims (and costs and image damage) as a result. So you want to avoid that. Chilled transport is all the more difficult when the temperature range is small. For example, if the product absolutely must remain between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius. However, it is not impossible to get this done. In fact, there is a simple way to arrange this. Namely, with Phase Change Material! How exactly does this work? And for which products and industries this material offers a solution? You can read it in this article.
Phase Change Material: cool chemistry
Phase Change Material (PCM) is a collective term for all materials that can change phase. With PCM you can play with the melting point of a cooling element, gel pack or cooling plate. Such a cooling element is normally filled with standard gel or water, but with our PCM solution, a substance is added to this. This can be salt, for example. This addition changes the freezing point of the gel pack or cooling element to temperatures between -1 and -20 degrees Celsius. Do you want to increase the solidification point? That, too, is possible. Adjust the solidification point to e.g. +5 or +20 degrees.
Customization for your unique challenge
Choose solutions that fully meet your needs. At Coolpack, we’re ready with innovative and reliable products for conditioned transport. Together we will be happy to discuss what works for you. Discover what’s possible. Click below for more information.
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In addition, our PCM solution is compatible with virtually any cooling element, such as gel packs or cooling blocks. This gives you truly chilled/conditioned transport tailored to your needs.
PCM thus offers a solution for products where a small temperature range applies and stability is desired. This varies by product. Take medicines: for some of them, a range of 0-8 degrees Celsius is sufficient. In that case, an original gel pack will suffice for proper cooling. However, do medications need to remain at a constant temperature? Then PCM is ideal. A certain type of PCM can also be used when the product is frozen. For example, with a batch of meat or fish. With special cold packs, the freezing point is placed well below 0 degrees Celsius. The cooling element or gel packs are then much colder, allowing products to stay frozen longer during shipment. So that fish stays frozen the entire trip! PCM has a temperature range of -21 to +20 degrees Celsius. So with this product you can go either way.
In practice: simple, effective and sustainable
Phase Change Material has simple instructions for use. However, there are some things to be aware of. As an example, let’s again take the shipment of medicine. It starts with the box in which you transport this load. Fill it with the medicine. Around this you build a cube with the PCM cooling elements.
for best results. In doing so, it is important that the box is optimally filled! No empty spaces should remain. This is because for a stable temperature, there should not be too much air circulation within your packaging.
Another important thing: freeze the pallet of refrigerated product well in advance! Do you want the PCM to reach a temperature of -20 degrees Celsius? Then you need to freeze the pallet at -30 degrees. So the pallet should always be refrigerated colder than the PCM itself. This guarantees you a trouble-free refrigerated transport from 24 to as many as 48 hours! After all, that’s how long you can use the PCM. Certain PCM are also reusable. This is the case with hard cooling elements and sponge packs. So this is a sustainable option.
At home in all markets
Let’s go back to our pallet of medicine. Chances are this load has to travel quite a distance. After all, these days we speak of global trade more often than local trade. Which refrigeration option is recommended for such long distances? And what exactly is wise with short transports? You can read it here.
Into the air: dry ice or alternatives with additional cold elements
Our fictitious cargo of medicine is destined for the United States. In that case, of course, we use the airplane. In air cargo, dry ice is a common option. If you as a customer do not want to use dry ice due to environmental or cost reasons, other options are available. PCM in combination with the right insulation offers a solution! In fact, there are no requirements for this. Our pallet with medicines can be taken into the air conditioned and the cargo remains stable at temperature throughout the flight.
Across the country: also for small units
Of course, our pallet of medicine may be destined for a location in the Netherlands or Europe. Freight transport is then an option. In that case, you can use freezer or refrigerated trucks. In principle, these cars work fine. However, they also have a disadvantage: the size of such a car. Are you only transporting one or two pallets of medicine? Then it is a waste to use an entire refrigerated car for this, both in terms of cost and wasted energy. So multi-use elements are ideal for small quantities. It is literally customized transport!
Coolpack and Phase Change Material
Coolpack is an expert in cooling solutions. Not only with PCM. Also with our innovative No Sweat Gelpacks and pallet sleeves. Solving problems: that’s what we love! Do you want to get your products cooled from A to B? We like to think along with you. Take a look at our product range or contact one of our experts!
Sustainability Coolpack and CSR
At Coolpack, we are aware of our responsibility to contribute to society. Both in terms of sustainability and society as a social body.
We weigh the interests of the customer, the environment and society, as well as ourselves as an organization, in all business decisions. In this way, we achieve balanced business operations and together ensure an ever better world.
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