Freezer transport without dry ice with Phase Change Material
It’s a hot topic in the world of cold chain transportation: major shortages of dry ice and prices going through the roof. How are these shortages caused, and why are PCM gel packs and cooling elements from Coolpack a stable and safe alternative, even in the long term? Read on quickly and find out.
Flashback to last year: dry ice shortage in UK
Last year we were already facing major dry ice shortages in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom. Indeed, the carbon dioxide used in the production of dry ice was released during the production of fertilizer at the plants of fertilizer manufacturer CF Industries, which closed two plants around the same time last year. The reason CF Industries shut down its plants were high gas prices in Europe. And now we face a similar situation: the fertilizer producer of Picnic’s dry ice supplier scaled back its activity in Europe to 35% due to high gas prices, making the raw material for dry ice production scarce.
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Dry ice for frozen transport
But what exactly is dry ice? Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide or COâ‚‚, as ice is of water. What is unique about dry ice, is that it has a temperature of – 79.8 °C and when heated, it “melts” into gas: that is, it does not turn into a liquid form like ice does. The chemical process behind this is called sublimation.
Because of the low temperature of dry ice, it is widely used for frozen transport. For example, for transportation of pharmaceutical products and frozen foods that must remain frozen during transport. However, it is important to use insulating packaging that also has some ventilation: when dry ice changes from solid form to gas, it takes up much more space.
Phase Change Material as a stable and sustainable alternative
At Coolpack we have years of experience in producing and supplying cooling elements and gel packs filled with so-called Phase Change Material: a cooling filling that can change phase. For freezer transport, for example, we offer Super gel packs with a solidification and melting point at -21 °C. Energy storage is highest around this temperature, and the freezer gel packs therefore keep your shipment frozen the longest around this temperature.
We can fill both gel packs and cooling elements with the PCM cooling gel. The gel packs are suitable for shipments without return flow, i.e. when the pack does not return to you. While they are reusable, they are more economical and less strong than the form-fixed cooling elements. In turn, the form-fixed cooling elements are suitable for transports with a return flow: think, for example, of a supermarket chain that delivers groceries to your home in refrigerated boxes that remain in the delivery van, and are refrozen after delivery for the next delivery round.
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Phase Change Material refrigerant VS dry ice
| PCM refrigerant | Dry ice |
| – Solidification and melting point down to -65 °C possible by adjusting recipe
– Made of cooling gel with non-scarce ingredients – Cooling filling turns into liquid form when melting – Freezing before use – Reuse possible: can be frozen again and again – No restrictions on air transport |
– Solidification point at – 79.8 °C
– Turns to gaseous form upon melting (sublimation) – Made from scarce carbon dioxide – Use as soon as possible after production – Reuse not possible – Limitations in air transport |
Want to know more?
Read all about Phase Change Material at phasechangematerial.com, or watch the video for more information. Have a specific question, want to request a quote or place an order? Then contact us at in**@************************rz.nl or the contact page.
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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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