Transport at ambient temperature with PCM hot packs
Coolpack is known for its cold chain assurance solutions: a temperature-controlled supply chain. Important when goods must remain at a stable temperature throughout the process from creation to end user. You may be thinking of refrigerated transport. However, Coolpack can also help you transport and store products at an ambient temperature. Find out exactly how this works and when it is important in this article.
Conditioned transport with ice packs and hot packs
For fragile goods, it is important to monitor transport and storage conditions. When they are sensitive to temperature, you can do this by using packing equipment with good insulation capacity and a temperature element (such as an ice pack or hot pack). You can also opt for a whole cooler or freezer van, also called active cooling. This does come with a high dependence on electricity. In addition, the entire contents of the van must be transported at the same temperature, and for optimal utilization of the capacity of the refrigerated van, you want to ensure that it is as full as possible – but do you always have a constant amount of packages to send to the same location?
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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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By choosing an insulated packaging with temperature element for conditioned transport, you gain flexibility and are often more environmentally conscious. You probably already know the classic blue refrigerated element, but did you know that you can also fill it with a Phase Change Material gel so that you can also transport your products stably at other temperatures?
Hot packs to ensure stable temperature
Products usually have an ideal temperature for preservation and a crucial temperature. The crucial temperature must not be exceeded: then the product is endangered. For example, live coral must remain between a temperature of 21 °C to 25 °C, otherwise the risk of mortality becomes high. The ideal temperature for live coral is around 24 °C.
Throughout the journey and storage, it is very important that the products remain within the limits of the crucial temperatures. You can achieve this with hot packs or PCM cooling elements.
Phase Change Material: what is it and how does it work?
It sounds great: material that remains stable at one temperature. But how exactly does that work? Let’s use a familiar material as an example: ice. The melting point of ice is 0 °C. At this temperature, it changes from phase to water. Therefore, water falls under Phase Change Materials. Around this solidification and melting point, the energy storage of ice is highest: it remains stable at this temperature the longest. Only when the ice is completely melted does the temperature rise. Ice is therefore an ideal cooling agent when you want to keep something around 0 °C for a longer period of time.
By adjusting the recipe of the liquid or gel in a cooling element, the melting and solidifying point can be raised or lowered. For example, at Coolpack we can make cooling elements with a solidification point well below the 0 point, or just at an ambient temperature, around +22 °C. This is why you sometimes hear the term hot packs used.
Preparing hot packs and temperature elements for ambient temperature transport
In PCM applications, the ambient temperature of your cold chain is essential for the preparation of the PCM elements. Do you want to keep your product in the package around +5 °C and thus work with a +5 °C cooling element? How you prepare the element depends on the outside temperature.
- Higher outside temperature: store the element with +5 °C gel in a refrigerator at 1 °C to 3 °C. Not colder, because preparing the element at below 0 °C may result in freezing damage to your product. When you start using the element and the temperature in the chain rises, the PCM gel will melt and stabilize the inner temperature of your package around +5 °C before it rises further.
- Lower outdoor temperature: store the element between +10 °C and +20 °C. The PCM will be in a liquid state before use, as its solidification point is at +5 °C. When the temperature in the chain drops, the PCM gel will solidify and stabilize the internal temperature of your package around +5 °C before it drops further.
When using a PCM element or hot pack with solidification point at +22°C, it is best to prepare the element between +5°C and +15°C at higher outdoor temperatures and around +25°C at lower outdoor temperatures.
More information?
Want to know more about Phase Change Material, hot packs, ice packs or their use? Our team is happy to think with you. Please feel free to contact us. Even if you want to request a quote or have a custom request.
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