A warehouse is used to store goods; a refrigerated warehouse is used to store those goods which can only be stored at certain temperatures to keep them fresh.
Refrigerated storage helps in eliminating sprouting, rotting and insect damage.
In general, there are three groups of products, foods that are alive (e.g. fruits and vegetables), foods that are no longer alive and have been processed in some form (e.g. meat and fish products), and commodities that benefit from storage at controlled temperature (e.g. beer, tobacco).
Cold storage helps stabilize market prices and evenly distribute goods both on demand basis and time basis
There are two main types of refrigeration system used in cold storage warehouses, a Vapour absorption system (VAS) and Vapour compression system (VCS).
VAS, although comparatively costlier, is quite economical in operation and adequately compensates the higher initial investment.
Refrigerated Warehouses are connected with the following logistics modes:-
Reefer Container
A reefer is the term used to refer to a truck, trailer, or shipping container that is equipped with a refrigeration unit for the transportation of temperature sensitive cargo.
For LTL shipments, the common options available are to keep the freight in a ?cool? or ?fresh? temperature range, or a frozen temperature range. The ?cool? range is typically used for freight such as fresh produce or other perishable items. If shipping a Truckload in a reefer unit, a more specific range can be requested.
Reefer Ship
A reefer ship is a refrigerated cargo ship; a type of ship typically used to transport perishable commodities which require temperature-controlled transportation, such as fruit, meat, fish, vegetables, dairy products and other foods.
Reefer Truck
A refrigerator truck is a van or truck designed to carry perishable freight at specific temperatures. Like refrigerator cars, refrigerated trucks differ from simple insulated and ventilated vans (commonly used for transporting fruit), neither of which are fitted with cooling apparatus.
Refrigerator trucks can be ice-cooled, equipped with any one of a variety of mechanical refrigeration systems powered by small displacement diesel engines, or utilize carbon dioxide (either as dry ice or in liquid form) as a cooling agent.
Originally published at Flexspace Blog.
