Freezer room

COLD STORE CONSTRUCTION – A HANDY CHECKLIST Saying that the quality and efficiency of a cold store depends on the quality of the main components that make it up, Ghaleb Abusaa provides a step-by-step guide.

CCME Content Team | | Oct 28, 2013 | 1:56 pm

Saying that the quality and efficiency of a cold store depends on the quality of the main components that make it up, Ghaleb Abusaa provides a step-by-step guide.

Construction outlines There are several features that go to make a model cold store. But if one were to reduce them to a basic list before undertaking its construction, the following items would be top priorities: 

The weighing station



The trailers, medium and small trucks parking area



The docks‟ arrangements and quantity



The steel structure



The civil works and floor area



The service corridors behind/around the cold rooms/store peripheral



The insulated envelope



The rooms‟ height



The number of rooms and their storage capacities

Let me discuss the items on the list one by one.

The weighing station The purpose of the weighing station is to monitor the incoming and outgoing loads entering the cold store through proper electronic weighing scales connected to a centralized monitoring and control system. This controls many aspects, such as possible theft and the percentage of defective and reject items out of the total periodic incoming and outgoing quantities. This helps keep a tab on everything, and judge the quality of the storage and refrigeration systems.

The trailers, medium and small trucks parking area

The size and layout of traffic in this part of the cold store govern the productivity and handling of the products in both time and quality of the products. Therefore, their importance cannot be emphasised enough. When there is a long waiting time, the natural human tendency is to switch off the trucks‟ refrigeration systems to save money. This could prove detrimental as it might result in reducing the quality of food and/or in spoilage of the products. Thus, proper design of this area is vital for a proper cold store output.

The docks’ arrangements and quantity The following list can serve as a ready reckoner with regard to the docks: a. The dock levellers b. The dock shelters c.

The guides, the sump pit and submersible pump plus other accessories in the vehicles parking area

d. The number of docks to match the approximate maximum daily intake/discharge plus extra for emergency purposes and possible future expansion e. Medium and small vehicles may enter the handling area via a ramp rather than having a special dock for them f.

Docks‟ doors – quick lift sectional insulated doors are recommended instead of rollup doors

The steel structure There are three things that need to be given due consideration with regard to the steel structure: a. One needs to make sure that the steel structure is designed to carry the extra loads of the insulated roof and coolers, especially with a wide span. Therefore, some thought and planning needs to be invested in this. b. Extra steel bars/angles and the like need to be added to the roof structure (main beams and/or Z berlins) to hang the insulated panels via insulated threaded rods. It needs to be noted here that the steel structure manufacturers normally do not allow welding for expansion and contraction purposes. They rather use a bolting system. c.

If need arises and some columns fall within a cold room, the columns need to be insulated to prevent heat bridges and condensation.

The civil works and floor area For holding freezers to store frozen products usually at -20°C or lower, electric heat mats or other means, such as ventilated floors are required when the floors are on the ground level. This is in order to prevent frosting and possible failure of the entire structure if frost accumulates under the floor.

Floor insulation and final reinforced concrete slab need to be cast on top of it.

The service corridors behind/around the cold rooms/store peripheral To be able to install the insulated envelope wall panels and for future service of the cold store, we need to factor in a service corridor. One can assume that a maximum of one- metre-wide service walkway behind the peripheral of the cold rooms would be required.

The insulated envelope For a typical cold store, it is safe to expect the following ranges of space temperatures as per industry standards:

a. All holding freezers are normally designed at -20°C. (The process of freezing is not applicable.) The frozen goods are normally received at a maximum of -10°C and the rooms will drop the temperature of the goods down to -20°C. b. All chilling rooms are normally designed to a minimum of zero degrees Celsius. However, the room temperature can be adjusted above zero, as applicable to the particular product being stored. To calculate the cooling capacity required for such rooms, we need to know at what temperature such goods are received. Fresh fruits and vegetables normally enter the room at ambient temperature, unless pre-cooled. c.

Dry/canned food is normally stored at air conditioned room temperature, say around 20°C. Some are designed for 15-20°C.

d. Area for handling, receiving, inspection, packing, packaging, grading etc is normally maintained at air conditioned room temperature level (Same as c above). e. The floor insulation is normally made of high-density extruded polystyrene capable of standing the force applied on it, density ranges between 35 and 40 kg/Mt3.

It needs to be noted that the thickness of the insulated panel will be decided based on the room‟s final temperature. Normally, it is 50 mm for items c and d above, 100 mm for item b. and 150mm for item a.

The rooms’ height A thumb rule that needs to be remembered here is, the higher a room‟s clear height, the better the utilization of the floor space will be (going vertical). However, handling such storage at high levels needs special arrangement. The traditional stacking using forklifts does not seem practical for heights over six meters. Heights in excess of that require narrow isle forklifts. But this will require fixed racking and small weight and volume packaging.

The number of rooms and their storage capacities How many rooms a cold storage needs to have is a hard thing to decide without knowing many other factors, such as the variety of products and types to be stored, for example, if it is for one‟s own business or if it is built to lease to others, the cycles per year, etc.

However, we have more than one option, as follows: a. Install commercial-type refrigeration system, standalone, each room has its own equipment b. Centralized industrial-type system for the full cold store c.

In both cases (a and b), we may have a single application for each room (either above or below zero) or multi-use rooms where any room can be used for above and below zero application. Though this is a costly solution, it has wide diversity and flexibility in operation.

Each of the above options has advantages and disadvantages that are normally explained to the client to help them decide which way to go.

In a nutshell, keeping in mind the above as the basic outline will help construct a good quality cold store, which takes into account the present and future needs and ensures that the quality of food entering and exiting is not compromised.

The writer is CEO of The Three Factors Company (en3 Solutions). He can be contacted at g.abusaa@en3solutions. com

CAD DRAWINGS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR FREEZER PANELS PermaTherm‟s highly washable, USDA- and CFIA-approved freezer panels offer many benefits for applications that not only require thermal control but also strong resistance to elements like mold, dust, and grease. To streamline the design and installation process of our metal freezer panels, browse our array of easy-to-download freezer specifications and freezer CAD drawings.

Freezer Specifications for Easy Installation Our CAD drawings and freezer specifications are available in a convenient PDF format for architects and engineers utilizing our top-rated freezer panels for applications such as meat, seafood and frozen goods related building systems. Browse and download our array of freezer design resources and specifications below: Click to Download Specification: 

Freezer Panel Specifications

Click to Download CAD Drawings: 

Ceiling Channel Suspended Ceiling



Ceiling Panel Attachments



Cooler Freezer Transition



Exterior Notched Wall to Ceiling



Exteriority or Wall_45-Degree Joint



Floor Detail at Interior Wall



Floor Wall Intersection A



Floor Wall Intersection B



Freezer to Cooler Juncture



Girt Attachment Detail A



Girt Attachment Detail B



Girt Attachment Detail C



Interior Wall to Exterior Wall Juncture Cold



Panel to Panel Juncture



Thickness Change 2



Typical Panel Detail



Typical Panel Joint

Have questions about our freezer panels, or need help downloading our freezer specifications?

Contact PermaTherm online to ask about our freezer CAD resources or call us toll-free at (866) 2809351 to speak with one of our customer service representatives about your freezer design project.

PermaTherm has been supplying insulated metal panels for various building applications for over 25 years. These are commonly used attachment details and specifications which have been utilized over the years. PermaTherm makes no representation or warranty as to the applicability of these details to your specific project. To completely assure applicability to your project, your design engineer should be consulted. PermaTherm can provide contacts to third-party engineers familiar with its panel products if required.

MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN BUILDING YOUR MEAT PROCESSING BUSINESS: CONSTRUCTION This is the third in a series of posts on building your meat processing business. Once you have left the planning phase and completed your design, you are ready to break ground and get started. The following are observations around the five biggest problem areas in meat processing construction. However, there are two pieces of advice to take with you at all times throughout the whole process.

The first is, no single person on your team is going to have ALL the answers. Your architect may be totally pulling some things out of his ass. Your engineers might not know the nitty gritty details to comply with USDA requirements. Your USDA inspector may care more about whether or not he gets his own bathroom, so they will most likely be useless during construction as well. If you suspect that something needs to be changed, at any point in the project, then I recommend employing the next step: stop and figure it out before moving forward. When building a processing plant, it's all concrete, steel beams, and expensive equipmen t. Few mistakes can be dealt with easily once in place. Make sure that you are addressing each detail and making 100% sure that you are making the best decision possible before giving the OK. Floors There are lots of varying opinions regarding the floors in processing plants. How much slope from wall to drain? How much texturing - slip resistance vs. ease of cleaning. Where to put the drains, and how many do you need? What size should they be?

Concrete issues and plumbing issues are not mistakes that you can solve with a bandaid. Only a jackhammer. You‟re about to build a brand-new processing facility.. Why pay for your floors twice? Seeing lousy concrete and plumbing design and execution is one of the reasons I began consulting start-up processing facilities... I have already seen this mistake made, and you could potentially lose thousands of dollars with one or two hasty decisions.

What is an “industry standard” in architecture for adequate drainage may not be enough here; you need to make sure that your slopes are adequate and then some. You cannot afford to have even a small area of pooling. This becomes an issue with both the USDA, and with keeping overall moisture in check.

In the least creepy way possible (take multiple other adults with you and a witness affidavit) go visit a gym locker room. Your processing room and kill floor will be operating much the same way as a YMCA shower: lots of hot water hoses running at once, for short bursts of time. If you

have even the slightest problem areas of pooling, they will constantly be a problem for you, both with keeping things clean, keeping the rooms dry, and with safety. You don‟t want to have to order fancy “caution wet floor” placards to place on every wall.

In my personal opinion, a textured floor is worth the extra elbow grease it takes to clean. I know managers who prefer an easier surface to clean, and are OK with slick floors being a major safety hazard to their employees. Not for me. What would you rather have? Eight months of worker‟s compensation when somebody falls and tears their rotator cuff, needing surgery and ending their meat cutting career.... Or a few extra minutes to clean the floor? This scenario actually happened to a coworker of mine a long time ago, and it wasn‟t the only slip and fall that required medical attention - it just happened to be the worst.

No matter what floor you choose, choose boots that are compatible with that floor. Strong, trained, knowledgable meat cutters are hard to replace. Be sure you are thinking of employee safety throughout each stage of the process.

Freezer Space One tip you may have heard from interviewing other meat processors is to build more freezer space than you think you need. Sadly, these rumors are true. Don‟t use estimates for freezer storage based on weight of the meat. That is useful for home chest freezers, but in a walk-in freezer, you need shelves, aisles, space for carts, trays, shifting product, and ventilation. Everyone is going to have different freezer storage needs based on their particular business model, desired capacity, and market. How much space the meat takes up and your maximum production capacity in relation to how long you need to store the meat is going to determine how much space you need. I can help you calculate this.

Ventilation, rails and floor all in one photo Ventilation & condensation Keeping your air circulating, to keep condensation at a minimum, and for other reasons (relative humidity in your cooler, mold growth, etc) is something to keep in mind. Condensation can be a major issue that will be hard to remedy once the building is completed. Moisture will collect at any point where cold meets hot: which is, well, a million places in a processing plant. Walls, ceilings, between coolers, between cutting room and kill floor rooms, loading dock areas.

Where there is moisture, there‟s bacteria. Where there‟s bacteria, there‟s a guy in a white USDA coat swabbing something with a q-tip and filling out a form. The inspectors will be diligent about excess or pooling water, and will definitely have something to say about any water

that drips onto meat or food contact surfaces. Try and keep things insulated well, the air moving, and use your rags and squeegees when cleaning to mop up any excess moisture.

Septic System You are required to “have adequate waste water removal systems” in place. From your floor drains to your septic system, you should be thinking about this as you design your waste disposal systems. Consider that you will be using a lot, and I mean A LOT, of water per carcass. From washing the actual carcass down, to cleaning your various rooms, to other general needs for water you may use a minimum of 250 gallons per beef carcass. This means that if you‟re running 10 head of beef through your plant per day, you‟ll be using at least 2500 gallons of water a day. And all of it must find it‟s way from all over the room, to down the drain.

Your septic system must be able to handle this, plus any domestic usage (i.e. bathrooms, hand washing). Make sure that your septic engineer can design a system that can handle this volume of water (overestimate!)Steamy. Like I said, lots of water. lots. over a 24-hour period. Also make sure that your filters/traps will be able to catch most of the blood, hair and fat heading down the drain.

Design Team Architects don't always know best. Neither do most engineers. You must have a solid team of people WORKING TOGETHER. The architect, engineer, and general contractors all know their business, but you, along with these members of your building team will only make the right decisions if they and you listen to each other. Sometimes the general notices details that will save your butt in the long run, sometimes the engineer has a great idea to work around an issue, and sometimes you may know that something is just plain not going to work. Communicate constantly with these parties and never defer due to lack of confidence - if you don‟t know, stop and figure it out first. Discuss, listen, and get help when help is needed. You don't want to settle for something only to find out later that it's built in such a way that it is permanently going to slow things down during operations, or that you need to fix it.

I‟m not aware of any architecture firm that specializes in small red meat processing facilities with humane handling design incorporated. I‟ve seen all these mistakes first-hand, and sadly, most are in brand-new plants. Why risk making those mistakes again? Your success is only going to be limited by the quality of the infrastructure you have built for your business. Get it right the first time!

Traditional Construction versus Modular Building Design

There are numerous differences between traditional construction and modular building design (i.e. buildings fabricated with steel insulated panels). First and foremost, with traditional construction, insulation is typically an “afterthought,” requiring a second trade to fulfil any insulation requirements.

When fabricating a building with metal panels, its structure, exterior and interior thermal barriers are constructed at one time, decreasing the use of multiple trades and incorporating both insulation and structure into one streamlined construction process.

In modular building design, streamlining your construction process decreases on-the-job construction time, furthered hastened with the installation process of PermaTherm‟s steel insulated panels. Our tongue-and-groove connection system has been perfected over the past 25 years, creating an installation process that is much more rapid than typical construction methodologies – helping you stay within your budget and time constraints.

PermaTherm’s Steel Insulated Panels Strength is a factor in traditional construction, and PermaTherm‟s steel insulated panels are generally stronger than most materials used in traditional construction methods, reinforcing the structure of any type of building. Our modular building design can create buildings that are hurricane-resistant and durable against hazardous elemental conditions.

Additionally, a building constructed from PermaTherm‟s steel insulated panels is environmentallyfriendly, as there is never any on-the-job waste, no matter what the application. Our modular building design has a lower energy demand, and our exterior and interior core material is either made from recycled content or is entirely recyclable.

A building fabricated from our metal panels is entirely customizable. PermaTherm‟s metal insulated panels are extremely versatile, and can be fabricated to fit into even the most complicated architectural designs.

Overall, modular building design can save you construction time, cost and energy, with savings that last for the lifetime of the building application.

Download Architectural CAD Drawings and Panel Design Specifications View and download PermaTherm‟s architectural CAD drawings below or read our extensive panel design specifications. We want to make it as easy as possible for architects and engineers to obtain the architectural resources you need. For this reason, we‟ve included an array of CAD drawings for a variety of applications.

Our architectural CAD drawings can be downloaded in a convenient PDF format, enabling you to combine this content with existing documents to streamline the construction process. If you have questions about downloading our panel design specifications or CAD drawings, please call us toll-free at (866) 280-9351. We‟re happy to speak with you about any project that you have in mind.

Architectural Metal Wall Panels CAD Drawings and Specifications PermaTherm‟s downloadable CAD drawings and specifications include details for the following applications: 

Freezer



Cooler



Non-cold



Ceiling



Equipment enclosure



Ripening room



Clean room



Drying room

Additionally, you can view our panel design specifications for more information about our architectural metal wall panels – including our quality assurance standards, installer‟s qualifications, product conditions, and warranty information.

Founded in 1987, PermaTherm has spent more than 25 years improving our insulated building panels to create durable, thermally efficient metal building systems. We aren‟t just an insulated building panel manufacturing company; we want you to obtain the resources that you need to fulfil your job requirements. If you have additional questions about our architectural CAD drawings or panel design specifications, or if you‟d like to talk to our team about your project challenges, please contact PermaTherm online or give us a call at (866) 280-9351.

PermaTherm has been supplying insulated metals panels for various building applications for over 25 years. These are commonly used attachment details and specifications which have been utilized over the years. PermaTherm makes no representation or warranty as to the applicability of these details to your specific project. To completely assure applicability to your project, your design engineer should be consulted. PermaTherm can provide contacts to third-party engineers familiar with its panel products, if required.

Tag: freezer room floor construction

What‟s so different about cold store floors?

Normal warehouse floors are designed to carry the loads that will be imposed on them, including forklifts, pallet racking systems or bulk product. These concrete floors are reinforced both to carry load and to stop unwanted cracking both during the curing process and thereafter for the life of the store. Storing new products should be done with care. I once visited a good friend whose office was on the third floor of an old CMT (cut, make and trim) building. All of a sudden his office door wouldn‟t close. It didn‟t take much investigation to reveal the cause. 12 pallets of sugar weighed rather more than fabric and were forcing the concrete floor downwards.

All concrete floors will crack. However this process can be managed by way of fibre, reinforcing, anticrack mesh, expansion/contraction joints and saw cut joints. If rails are installed in the concrete floor either for cranes or mobile racking, then increased reinforcing is likely both to assist in carrying and spreading the increased rail point loads and to prevent the concrete floor from cracking around the rails. This can happen as embedded rails are crack inducers.

Donâ€&#x;t under do the reinforcing The actual design of normal concrete warehouse floors depends on the supporting ground beneath. If it is of a variable nature or not weight supporting, and the imposed loads will be relatively large, then piling may be needed.

Freezer store concrete floors or wearing slabs must incorporate all the requirements of normal warehouse floors with a few extras for freezing. If the temperature of the subfloor approaches freezing, usually plus 4 degrees C is taken as the danger point, then any water moisture in the subfloor will freeze. When water becomes ice, it expands in volume and has to be accommodated.

This normally leads to the concrete floor rising and cracking as the rise is variable over the floor area.

Ice will lift just about any weight which is particularly important when pallet racking is present.

Section through a typical freezer floor with rails for Storax mobile bases.

Heater mat control box – Shows current being used by each circuit As well as underfloor insulation, all freezer floors should have added protection from frost heave. In South Africa the current standard is the electric heater mat which is normally laid in three circuits in case there is a circuit malfunction. The mat only uses energy if the subfloor temperatures reaches 4 degrees or less. Some larger freezer stores are now using a warm piped glycol/water mixture which absorbs the waste heat given off by the condensers. These run continuously. The Australians favor underfloor 200mm diameter pipes through which warm air should be blown via a fan system. The pipes are laid at a slight angle to prevent moisture from lying in them as this might freeze, gradually closing the pipe.

I was in one freezer where frost heave had raised portions of the floor by over 800mms. The store had a good underfloor air ventilation system but the openings had been blocked with checker plate to stop rats from entering.

Mobile racking is especially affected by “frost heave” as the drive systems are designed to only operate on reasonably level floors. Freezer floors also experience a secondary contraction when cooled to below zero temperatures and it‟s not unusual to see a 10 to 15mm gap between the concrete floor and the insulated wall panels. It is not a good idea to „cool‟ a new freezer store quickly as it‟s more likely to crack – especially around the door, a high traffic area.

Rails in a recently cured floor before the Storax mobile bases are installed In freezer stores there can be either contraction or construction joints. I have seen freezer stores up to 1600m2 without contraction joints where the reinforcing is designed to make the floor shrink inwards. In this situation one would expect to have about 120 to 130 kgs of reinforcing per m3 of poured concrete. Contraction joints should be designed so that both sides of the joint can move, but that the same level is maintained. These should be armored when in high use areas like gangways.

We try and design mobile layouts s that any contraction joints are under fixed racks. In such instances where a double fixed rack spans a joint, the one side should only be bolted down once the floor has stabilized at its sub- zero temperature. Although tempting in a mobile store, construction joints should not be placed at rails as this encourages cracking and voids.

Cold store floors are the most important part of a freezer store and should be seen not just as a wearing surface but also as a foundation for the racking system. It is therefore worth taking time to get the floor right as subsequent repairs on a large scale at subzero temperatures are extremely difficult. For those who do have the occasional floor problem, Barpro stocks Spalpro 2000 and Febset 45.

Complete this form to enquire about Febset and Spalpro

4 THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A FREEZER ROOM CONTRACTOR 

June 18, 2015



by: Team When investing in a freezer room, it‟s important to know what a qualified freezer room contractor looks like. There are certain characteristics to look for in cold storage construction companies to make sure the construction of your freezer room is as profitable as possible. Here are 4 things to look for in a freezer room contractor who is ready to take on your investment…

Freezer Room Contractor & Thermal Expert Collaboration There can be many temperature requirements in a single warehouse. A close collaboration between the thermal team and the freezer room designers is vital to the layout of which rooms that will be around the freezer room. The right

order of rooms should optimize each room‟s temperature by making sure similar temperatures are around each other. Make sure there is a process in place with your contractor for this type of communication between the freezer room designers and thermal experts.

Experience In Design & Materials Cold storage construction companies that are happy to put in a bid but lack experience can find themselves in over their heads with materials and design for freezer rooms. Although freezer rooms can be simplistic, troubleshooting before building is one of many design angles that needs an expert touch. It takes an experienced logic of product location and material handling to reduce problems after the construction is done. For example, a freezer room floor cannot be constructed with basic plumbing and a concrete slab. Knowledgeable contractors address important details like underfloor heating before construction begins. Otherwise, your floors can become slippery quickly and cause injuries to employees.

Flexible Freezer Room Converting Do you already have a property that needs a freezer room built inside of it? Professional freezer room builders must be able to address issues before they become costly problems for special requests that can dramatically change an existing building. For example, top-rank contractors work with thermal teams during the renovation process to ensure the correct flooring, insulated metal panels, and roofing is in place before construction begins.

Energy Efficiency Awareness There is nothing worse than going to a conference and learning you paid too much for your investment compared to other businesses like yours. Freezer room contractors with energy efficiency awareness will save you money in the short-term and the long-term. By creating freezer rooms that have the latest green technology, your company will save on utility bills in the short-term. In the long-term, you will increase your profitability and save money through tax rebates when your company goes green. Companies that want to maintain a green image for their consumers will choose your business over others. This increases your ability to maintain profitability and have long-term client relationships.

Now that you know what makes a top-notch freezer room contractor, youâ€&#x;re half way there to the best freezer room possible for your budget. Remember:

The best freezer room contractors always think of the future benefits and issues of your freezer before the construction begins.

Click Here to contact us and learn more about what makes a great freezer room contractor!

HOW TO BUILD A WALK-IN FREEZER

By Natasha Parks You can build walk-in freezer units in a range of different sizes, with different materials and to suit varied purposes. It is possible to create a small walk-in freezer in one section of a room, or develop an industrial-scale freezer that spans a much larger space, such as a warehouse. A large-scale freezer with plenty of room for walking around is required, for example, in a food-development company, but it costs significantly more to create.

Walk-in freezers are more straight-forward to assemble using a purpose-built kit, but you can develop your own.

Step 1 Select the size of freezer you need for your individual requirements and purchase a walk-in freezer kit that can create such a freezer size. Make your own from scratch using insulation, sheet metal and foam. You will need to be skilled in cutting sheet metal to successfully complete the latter option.

Step 2 Choose and purchase insulation material and a metal skin. Use extruded polystyrene (high moisture resistance) and polyurethane in large freezers as insulation materials, according to US Cooler. If you are looking to build a small-scale, in-room freezer, choose a skin that is easy to clean, robust and solid, such as G90 galvanized (expensive), aluminum (resistant to corrosion), galvalume (steel-coated aluminum), painted G90 (several color choices) or stainless steel (very expensive, but strong).

Step 3 Create the walls and roof of the freezer by cutting sets of sheet metal, inserting the insulation materials and injecting foam to clamp the two components together. A kit will already have the walls sandwiched together.

Step 4

Purchase and install a refrigeration system that is both economical and energy-efficient. Select either a remote-control system, a pre-assembled remote system, a standard mountable system or a location-specific system (such as mount-top, saddle-mount, penthouse or roll-up).

Step 5 Decide whether you need a floor to the unit, and install one if you do. Sweep the mounting surface clean, lay a sheet of waterproof sheathing down to create a moisture barrier and place the flooring on top. Secure the walls and floor with tongue and groove connectors, bolts or screws (and a screw driver), depending on the kit, or the type of joint you prefer to use.

Step 6 Fit a door to the freezer. Take into account its position in the room and the side you wish to enter it from. Kits have ready-made doors that attach to existing hinges, but you can make your own using hardware store hinges. Make sure the door insulates, too. Caulk all the static joints.



Home



About

o

About us

o

Experience & Capabilities

o

The Emergent Advantage

o

Our Team



Services

o

Design & Construction Services

o

Engineering Studies

o

Program Management

o

Program Management Services



Our Clients



Projects

o

Farbest Foods

o

Jason's Deli

o

Rudy‟s Tortillas



Project Gallery



Articles o

Understanding Freezer Floor Heave By: Robert D Judson, PE

o

The Hidden Plant By: Robert D Judson, PE

o

Grease Collection System for Bio Diesel By: Robert D Judson, PE

o

Eliminating Sewer Surcharges By: Robert D Judson, PE



Contact

UNDERSTANDING FREEZER FLOOR HEAVE BY: ROBERT D JUDSON, PE We receive several calls a month from clients wanting to know why their freezer floors are rising in the middle and heaving. Freezer floor slab design is assumed to be simple. Design solutions are shared and misapplied. Freezers are built and floors heave. Why? The concept of preventing floor

heave has been misunderstood and misapplied for years resulting in freezer floor failure which causes facility shutdowns and litigation.

One of the most misunderstood concepts is the relationship of vapor pressure and temperature and their affects on freezers. Cold air has a lower vapor pressure than warm air. Warmer air will move toward cooler air because of the driving forces of vapor differences between cold and warm air.

Warm air has a higher vapor pressure which will force its way through a pin hole or move through earth and soil until the vapor reaches equilibrium or adheres to the underside of a frozen slab. Warm moist air in the soil will migrate to the bottom of the freezer slab if a vapor barrier is not installed. In order to keep the vapor from freezing beneath the slab, the earth must be warmed above the freezing point. The freezer slab must be insulated to retain the loss of heat from the slab and balance the vapor pressure with the warm ground below the freezer floor.

What are the key design elements of a freezer floor?

1. Concrete Slab Design – The concrete slab must be designed to resist the punching shear and weight of the pallet racks.

2. Under Floor Insulation – Under floor insulation must provide sufficient compressive strength to support the loads from the overlaying floor slab without crushing it. EPS is recommended since it provides a compressive strength of 30 PSI. The insulation should be placed directly below the freezer slab.

3. Vapor Barrier – A vapor barrier must be placed directly below the insulation. The vapor barrier keeps vapor from migrating from the soil and through the insulation to the bottom of the freezer slab.

4. Mud Slab – A mud slab is to be placed below the vapor barrier. The mud slab is made up of a rich concrete sand mix with no aggregate and contains the under floor heat transfer media.

5. Under Floor Heat – Beneath the mud slab, under floor heat is required to keep the earth from freezing. The insulation R value is used in conjunction with the difference in soil and freezer temperatures to calculate the heat required to avoid ice buildup. Good design practice calls for a value of 1.5 to 2.5 BTU/SF/Hr. Heat applied using gravity or forced air ducts is not recommended due to a history of failure. Recommended options are: o

Electric Under Floor Heat – Use of under floor heat tape in conjunction with a temperature sensor placed below the mud slab can be an economical solution to provide heat. It can be used as a corrective measure to repair a heaved floor slab. Repair is only an option if the heat tapes can be placed inside 1” galvanized conduits located in the sealed end of failed air ducts.

o

Glycol Tubing Under Floor Heat – One of the most economical methods of applying heat to a freezer floor is to pump glycol through tubing that has been heated from a waste heat source. Waste heat sources can be via an ammonia compressor, air compressor, or even through solar collection.

Summary – If you have a freezer floor that is heaving, the under floor heating system has most likely failed. Correction of floor heave can possibly be achieved with the supply of adequate floor heat. Specific design solutions for correcting floor heave will depend on the amount of insulation installed, the presence of a vapor barrier, and if heat can be reapplied to bring the floor back.

Corrections should be addressed as quickly as possible to minimize freezer floor damage. 

HOME



ABOUT



SERVICES



OUR CLIENTS



PROJECTS



PROJECT GALLERY



ARTICLES



CONTACT

801 East Campbell Road, Suite 500 Richardson, TX 75081 Telephone: (972) 231-7224 FAX: (972) 231-9319 EMERGENT CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGIES © 2017 | Dallas Web Design by Einstein's Eyes

Cold Warehouse Technical Information Index: Cold Warehouse Construction Blast Freezers Freezer Walls, Floors, and Ceilings Food Processing Plants Insulated Panel Construction Freezer Storage Considerations Industrial Refrigeration Plants Insulated Panel Construction 24/7 Facilities Monitoring Cold Warehouse Construction At The Kaiser Martin Group, cold storage construction is our forte. We can erect anything from food processing plants to small cold rooms to large cold storage warehouses. Refrigerated warehouse construction is very unique since great consideration must be given to what types of products will be stored. We customize each building design to the needs of our customers to ensure the highest levels of customer approval and quality.

Since every business is unique, every cold warehouse construction projects is also unique. There is quite a difference between a client who needs a cold room added on to an existing facility and a client who needs a sizable cold storage warehouse built from the ground up. A dairy processing facility does not have the same needs as a frozen food processing plant. At The Kaiser Martin Group, your needs are our first priority. It is our goal to custom design a solution to meet your present needs while considering your future needs as well.

At The Kaiser Martin Group, we believe in providing only the best refrigerated warehouse construction services. We operate in the construction of standard cold warehouses and warehouses used for food processing. We believe that your build should be worry-free and hassle-free through the entire sequence.

Every project that KMG accepts is built to unique specifications and requirements. Many options must be considered when constructing a refrigerated warehouse facility including the best site for the project and any special engineering requirements needed. Our cold storage facility experts can guide you through every step of the building process.

When constructing a building designed for frozen storage, possibly the most important thing to consider is which concrete floor to use. Not all concrete floors are created equal and using the wrong one can lead to trouble and unnecessary expense. With our knowledge and experience, you will get the best possible concrete floor system to meet your cold storage warehousing needs.

Because so many different things must be considered, construction of refrigerated warehousing facilities requires an enormous degree of precision and detail. Since we specialize in this type of construction, we know that The Kaiser Martin Group is the best choice for all of your cold storage warehousing projects. When you contact us, we will review your plans closely and share our strategy for building your perfect cold storage warehouse.

Freezer Wall, Floor, and Ceiling Construction

The Kaiser Martin Group uses premium materials and methods when cold warehouse construction.

Here is a description of what goes into the building of a cold storage building.

For freezer ceiling construction in larger facilities, panels are typically placed on the outside over a metal “B” deck with EPDM roofing membrane over insulation which also acts as the vapor barrier.

Layers of 5” Isocyanurate insulation achieving R-values from R-31 to R-50 are typical. For smaller facilities, a 6” expanded urethane metal clad sandwich panel is typical for the ceiling.

Typical freezer wall construction consists of the same 5” or 6” expanded urethane metal clad panels with R-values that range from R-32 to R-56. The metal acts as the vapor barrier. In addition to the thermal performance characteristics, the thickness of the wall also becomes a function of the wall height. Due to the constructability of the facility, it is common for the cooler walls and ceilings to be the same thickness as the freezer walls and ceilings for facilities that house both coolers and freezers.

It is also common for loading docks adjacent to coolers to share the same wall and ceiling thickness.

Separating walls between coolers and freezers usually have 5” to 6” of urethane for insulation and have a metal frame structure. The goal on these walls is to prevent condensation from forming on the warm side of the wall so the thermal characteristics of the wall need to be high enough to prevent condensation from occurring. These walls are typically built with R-values exceeding R-26.

In refrigerated construction, one of the most important specifications to determine is the type of concrete floor that is needed. Concrete floors can be built in many different ways, and it is important to match the concrete floor slab to the facility‟s location and intended purpose. Installing the wrong concrete floor slab can spell disaster for a project, but at The Kaiser Martin Group we will work closely with you to make sure your cold storage building has the right type of concrete floor with the right seal for your needs. Every time we build a cold warehouse we determine which type of concrete floor and sealant system is best for the project.

Freezer floors are typically insulated from R-18 to R-30, depending on the soil and ground characteristics. They are typically constructed with warming glycol tubes set in a mud slab with 4” of rigid styrene over the mud slab and 6” of reinforced concrete poured over that. The glycol tubes may are to prevent under slab freezing which would lift and break a slab from frost formation. The size of the facility may also influence the cost of using under-slab glycol heating versus electrical resistance heating on smaller floor prints.

In facilities that house only cooler storage, it is typical for the ceilings to be constructed of wood framing with 4” of blow-on urethane insulation on the underside with R values from R-24 to R-40.

The walls could be either 4” to 5” expanded urethane metal clad panels or sandwiched concrete panels with R values from R-23 to R-40. Cooler floors are typically un-insulated concrete slab on grade.

Premium construction starts with high quality professional design. That is vital to ensuring your refrigerated warehouse build meets your needs with refrigeration equipment that lasts. The Kaiser Martin Group possesses a wealth of knowledge to help create food storage solutions that work for you. We have the knowledge you need to successfully guide you through every phase of your cold warehouse construction project. Our products keep the fundamentals of thermal design and construction in mind, while also being aesthetically pleasing and practical.

Industrial Refrigeration At The Kaiser Martin Group, we have extensive experience with industrial refrigeration plants of all types. While many types of refrigeration systems are used in other industries, ammonia refrigeration systems are found quite commonly in industrial refrigeration. This type of system uses anhydrous ammonia, or ammonia without water. Since Ammonia based refrigeration systems are so commonly

used in the refrigeration of our everyday food items, we have made it a point to become experts in all aspects of these systems.

A large concern when building ammonia refrigeration systems for our refrigeration plants is the safety of your employees. There is always a risk when chemicals such as ammonia are present in a work environment. Workers can be subjected to fume inhalation, skin contact, ammonia explosions and fires. We will do everything in our power to make sure that the systems are free of manufacturing defects and other problems that could lead to any possible accidents in your facility. For additional protection, OSHA offers training programs for company owners and their employees which we feel is an absolute must for anyone using ammonia-based refrigeration, no matter how experienced.

Secondary to safety considerations is system efficiency. It is our goal that refrigeration system is energy-efficient as possible. At The Kaiser Martin Group, we have extensive knowledge in all aspects of industrial refrigeration to make you project a success. Our engineers are experts at making all aspects of your systems work together. We will optimize your refrigeration systems so that they are as energy-efficient as possible, to saving your company money.

Freezer Storage We recognize that proper freezer storage and refrigeration processes are vital to your business. We also understand that because every customer is different, and thus the needs may change from industry to industry. Our refrigerated construction services include refrigeration systems design, feasibility studies, project management, concrete floor fabrication, insulation systems, cold storage doors, and vapor barriers.

We provide solutions for fresh food and frozen foods including ammonia refrigeration, blast freezers, walk-in freezers, and Freon refrigeration. We excel in knowing which technologies are available to best suit your needs. We can also provide fully automated computer-based climate control systems.

A refrigerated building‟s function is largely determined by the products to be stored there. Factors such as the quantities of food items to be prepared and stored, how the products will be packaged, and specifics on temperatures and conditions for storage all affect the final design of the building.

There are commonly two types of freezing processes used in freezer storage. “Contact Freezing” costs less to operate and operates with flat hollow plates or slabs through which cooled refrigerants are circulated. Food is placed in direct contact with the plates and is cooled. Vertical plate freezers are common to seafood products, while horizontal plate freezers are common to packaged food products.

“Blast Freezing” (Flash Freezers) is common to freezer storage facilities as well. Batch air blast freezers are mainly used for package products on pallets, as well as loose products. Blast freezers cool the products quicker which results in a product that is finer in texture, keeps longer, and is more resistant to spoiling.

Food Processing Plants The Kaiser Martin Group designs and builds food processing plants with consideration of your current and future needs. By helping to maximize your production and minimize energy consumed, we provide you with a processing plant that will help in your success. We want to partner with you to build food processing building facilities that help you to run cost effective operations.

We focus first on the specific processes needed to manufacture your products. After this we then begin to look at design, layout, and architecture. Our team will work seamlessly to build a food processing facility that is right for your business.

At The Kaiser Martin Group, we know the importance of the food processing industry to the nation‟s food supply. Before modern food processing techniques were developed, the nation‟s food supply was very subjected to spoilage and crop shortages. Modern technology has helped to increase production,

distribution, and quality of the world's food supply.

At The Kaiser Martin Group since we are experts in food processing construction, we believe our job is to make construction as hassle-free as possible for you so that you can focus on your core business. Once the build is finished, you will have a food processing facility designed for your company.

The Kaiser Martin Group has experience constructing various types of food processing plants so we understand the needs and requirements of the industry. We have constructed food processing plants for meat packing, dairy processing lines, and other food processing systems. No matter what type of building you need, we will use our knowledge and experience to construct the perfect plant for your company. Here at The Kaiser Martin Group we take the time to plan and build a customized plant that fulfills the needs of your business. We will build your plant so you can focus on efficiency and productivity.

Blast Freezers Blast freezers are uniquely used to rapidly cool and freeze various food products. Blast freezers are specialized in nature, and are capable of chilling items at very cold temperatures. Because of this, they are very common in the entire food industry.

Flash freezers use blowers which forcefully circulate super-cooled air throughout the freezer. This forced circulation allows more air contact with the food which brings it rapidly below freezing temperature. Some freezers have additional features like adjustable trays for positioning foods according to your needs, and to ensure even cooling and freezing.

Many freezers contain multiple compartments, so that different types of foods can be quickly frozen without risking cross-contamination. These types of freezers are capable of freezing foods at any temperature. Overloading however, especially of warmer foods, will cause a drop in freezing performance since the freezer must work much harder.

Once an item has been blast frozen, it can be moved to a conventional freezer for long term storage.

As long as it is kept frozen, blast-frozen items can be safely stored for much longer periods of time than items frozen with conventional methods. The extreme cold produced by a blast freezer inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria which diminishes food spoilage and contamination risk. This makes blast freezing a popular choice in food service organizations.

Insulated Panel Construction The Kaiser Martin Group builds refrigerated warehouse construction with high-quality insulated metal panels. These panels consist of two metal skins filled with 2" up to 6" of urethane insulation.

Assembly of this panelized construction system is quick and efficient.

R-Values of insulated panel construction are from R-16 up to R-49. Panels lengths can come in 10' up to 48' with interlocking, double tongue and grooves. The exterior face consists of 26, 24, or 22 gauge G-90 galvanized pre-painted steel.

Insulated panels have high fire resistance ratings and have USDA approved finishes for food environments.

The Higher "R-Values" and uniform insulation thickness of insulated metal panel construction help bring lower operating costs to your facility. Since the panels don't compress like blanket insulation your "R" value will not change over time. The insulated panels rigidity mean less steel is needed to support them because they can span longer distances.

Refrigeration We can provide refrigeration systems for supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, warehouses, food processing facilities, and manufacturing facilities. We can build cold storage space for

environments from -20 degrees to +38 degrees.

Want peace of mind?

We can provide 24 hour monitoring of your cold storage facilities. A sophisticated program monitors various levels of your facility including high or low temperatures, oil failures, open sensors, lighting, short cycling, and power failures.

View some of our past refrigerated warehouse projects on our projects page.

Steel Solar Canopy Construction The Kaiser Martin Group is the Premier Design / Builder of Steel Solar canopies for the solar industry in the Northeastern United States. We are capable of Design / Building a wide variety of Steel Solar Support Canopies to fit your application from parking garage canopies to waste water treatment plant canopies to parking lot canopies. No job is too big for The Kaiser Martin Group.

When we design for our customers, we do not design to a minimum as many builders do. We carefully listen to your needs and design a well rounded and complete solution for you. We are capable of retrofitting to an existing building, building to cover a parking lot or any other application.

Just let us know what your specific needs are and we will design an appropriate solution.

The Kaiser Martin Group has the capability to provide sealed engineering drawings for steel solar support canopies and concrete footings. We are a complete scope, steel solar canopy erector ready to service our customers to the fullest. Call The Kaiser Martin Group today for all your steel solar canopy construction needs.

Types of Solar Canopies: 

Tandem "T" Design: Consists of a flat-top steel solar canopy array with a single row of center-line columns and equal length overhangs on either side. This steel solar canopy needs large concrete footings to counter-act the wind shear and uplift forces.



Two Post Design: The Two-Post solar canopy design consists of two rows of steel support columns supporting a single sloped solar panel array. This achieves smaller footing sizes and less wind shear because of a more stable design.



Single Post Semi-Cantilever: This design uses a single column line with the solar panel array hanging mostly over one side. This is a good option for smaller spaces, or alongside other structures. This steel solar canopy needs large concrete footings to counter-act the wind shear and uplift forces.



Single Post Full-Cantilever:: This design uses a single column line with the solar panel array hanging entirely over one side. This is a good option for smaller spaces, or alongside other structures. This steel solar canopy needs large concrete footings to counter-act the wind shear and uplift forces.



Curved Steel Tandem: Consists of tube steel bent at a radius. Can be formed into a twosided tree which gradually bends horizontally out both sides. This steel solar canopy needs large concrete footings to counter-act the wind shear and uplift forces.



Curved Steel Single: This design consists of tube steel bent at a gradual radius and not attached to any other steel. It makes a 1/2 tree with the column bending right into the array support. This steel solar canopy needs large concrete footings to counter-act the wind shear and uplift forces.



Ground Mount Array: Makeup is typically metal posts pounded into the ground and then connected by primary steel and filled out with secondary steel. No footings are needed with this design and is therefore good for covering large land expanses with solar panel arrays.



Rooftop Array - Fixed: This is a solar canopy system specifically designed to mount on an existing building's rooftop. Typically built with structural steel as primary steel members and various other steel for secondary members. Drilling and epoxying is typically used to attach the solar canopy to the existing structure.



Rooftop Array - Temporary: A self-contained, non-attaching racking system that is held in place with sandbags. Good for when attaching to a building is not an option and removal of

the system is planned.

The Kaiser Martin Group is capable of providing structural analysis of existing buildings and structures and evaluation of solar panel installation feasability.

Call The Kaiser Martin Group for all your steel solar canopy installation needs.

Cold Storage Construction Company Refrigerated Warehouse Construction The Kaiser Martin Group is the Premier Construction Contractor of cold storage facilities also known as refrigerated warehouses. This type of refrigerated construction is unique, specialized, and requires specific knowledge and experience to be performed successfully and efficiently.

The Kaiser Martin Group has been building cold storage warehouses for over twenty years and has a large amount of knowledge and experience in this type of cold construction. We also have extensive experience in the construction of food preparation facilities.

Call The Kaiser Martin Group for the construction of your refrigerated warehousing, freezer space construction, and dry storage food warehousing construction to have it built right.

We are qualified to build for you because we have spent years working with USDA regulations and requirements and know the appropriate construction methods to satisfy them. Our products and construction methods are second to none.

Cold Storage Features The Kaiser Martin Group refrigerated warehouses are becoming the gold standard in the industry.

KMG Refrigerated Warehouse buildings are: 

Energy efficient



Low maintenance engineered



Easy to expand



Efficient on space



Environmentaly friendly



USDA approved The Kaiser Martin Group offers decades of Experience and Knowledge in a wide range of Refrigerated Warehouse Systems:



Refrigeration and HVAC systems



Loading Docks



Insulated floor systems



Split systems (freezer / cooler)



Cold storage doors (high speed)



Under-floor warming systems



Converting existing buildings



Thermal barriers



Condensation blocks



Panelized construction



Steel frame building construction



Fire blocking



Sprinkler systems



Food processing



Building curbs



Washdown areas



Rubber membrane roofing



Insulated roof panels



Racking and storage systems



Commercial Roofing Systems



Plumbing and Electrical Systems

How We Make A Difference 

We can help you with the entire food warehousing or cold storage construction process from land development, drawings and diagrams, through to construction.



The Kaiser Martin Group self performs the construction and handles code approvals for your cold storage building. This includes thermal and vapor barrier systems needed to efficiently run cold storage facilities and food processing and distribution buildings.



We understand the details of refrigerated warehouse construction such as thermal breaks, vapor barriers, layered concrete. These details are familiar to all of our employees because we have been design-building for decades.



You are close to the material source because The Kaiser Martin Group orders the materials from the manufacturer such as steel, panels, liners, roofing, and accessories. These components have not been marked up several times by the presence of a middle man.



Our years of experience in cold storage construction has made us an authority on the subject of refrigerated construction. This is why The Kaiser Martin Group is the preferred cold construction contractor in the northeastern U.S.

What To Expect When you hire The Kaiser Martin Group as your Cold Storage Builder you can expect: An Energy Efficient Building Low Long Term Maintenance Good Looking Building Space Efficient Ease of Expansion Read more on Cold Storage Construction by The Kaiser Martin Group Insulated Panel Construction The Kaiser Martin Group builds refrigerated warehouse construction with high-quality insulated metal panels. These panels consist of two metal skins filled with 2" up to 6" of urethane insulation.

Assembly of this panelized construction system is quick and efficient.

R-Values of insulated panel construction are from R-16 up to R-49. Panels lengths can come in 10' up to 48' with interlocking, double tongue and grooves. The exterior face consists of 26, 24, or 22 gauge G-90 galvanized pre-painted steel.

Insulated panels have high fire resistance ratings and have USDA approved finishes for food environments.

The Higher "R" Values and uniform insulation thickness of insulated metal panel construction help bring lower operating costs to your facility. Since the panels don't compress like blanket insulation your "R" value will not change over time. The insulated panels rigidity mean less steel is needed to support them because they can span longer distances.

Refrigeration We can provide refrigeration systems for supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, warehouses, food processing facilities, and manufacturing facilities. We can build cold storage space for environments from -20 to +34 degrees.

We Can Provide Blast Coolers and Freezers Package Freon Systems Central Ammonia Systems Under-Floor Heating Systems

Want peace of mind?

We can provide 24 hour monitoring of your cold storage facilities. A sophisticated program monitors various levels of your facility including high or low temperatures, oil failures, open sensors, lighting, short cycling, and power failures DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION SERVICES DESIGN PHASE: 

Work with Owner and Architect to provide base project budget and schedule for Owner‟s approval



Provide cost saving alternatives



Provide guidance to the Owner and Architect to manage the project through the design phase to stay on budget



Review plans through design phase providing updated budgets



Upon completion of architectural and engineering plans:



Prepare subcontractor bid list for Owner‟s approval incorporating Emergent recommended and Owner suggested subcontractors for bidding (three to five bidders in each category of work)



Tabulate bids for Owner‟s review and approval of low/successful subcontractor



Finalize project price and write contract



Prepare construction schedule



Obtain building permit

CONSTRUCTION PHASE: 

Full-time, onsite Superintendent



Third-time Project Manager



Weekly meetings with subcontractors to coordinate project



Monthly status reports emailed to Owner



Quality Control



Safety Program



Obtain submittals for approval



Project accounting



Provide Lien Waivers

Project Warranty: 

Provide record set of drawings



Provide maintenance schedule of equipment



Warrantee all work for one year from the date of substantial completion

THE HIDDEN PLANT BY: ROBERT D JUDSON, PE Two production facilities exist at every operating location. One facility is productive and produces wealth. The other plant “The Hidden Plant” (THP) generates losses in revenue due to waste in materials, labor and energy. The ability to define the nature of “The Hidden Plant” and reduce its impact ultimately determines the profitability, success and long term survival of the plant.

The THP shows up in many forms. Excessive line changeovers, no minimal run times for production, inadequately trained maintenance personnel or lack of adequate spare parts to minimize plant downtime. Excessive inventory results in stales or discounted products. Insufficient inventory results in shorts to customers or overtime to meet deliveries. Short order lead times can result in excessive line changeovers and loss of line utilization. Losses show up as low yields, product left in lines after production runs, protein and lean variances, giveaway due to poor weight control, damaged and returned products, product out of spec, rejected products due to contamination or excess age, and excessive electrical and gas energy usage. Losses from using full scale production lines for R&D development can also affect profits significantly. Losses from capacity limiting machinery which limits production output of the overall production system is very costly.

The key to controlling and minimizing the impacts of the hidden plant are to map out the unit processes, measure and monitor the inputs and outputs of the system, and define where system losses are occurring. You can‟t control what you can‟t measure. The paradigm of preventing loss versus detecting it has resulted in significant improvements in processes. For comparative purposes, the cost of $1.00 raw materials compares to a finished product of $6.00, to a cost of $100.00 in the hands of the customer. The greatest loss is not the loss of the raw materials or the finished product in the plant. The final and crucial blow is the loss of a customer due to an out of control system which produces products that do not meet the customer requirements. The $1.00 raw material resulted in $100.00 worth of faulty material in the hands of the customer which caused the loss of the customer for unknown long-term future benefits.

Improvement processes apply to engineering, manufacturing or any process which can be defined and measured. The first step in the process is to identify the system and gain knowledge about where and how the system currently operates and how it operates. The next step is to assess the system‟s current performance and determine if the process is consistent and meets your requirements. Make sure you understand what your customer wants, needs and is willing to pay for. Determination of variability requires knowledge of dynamic variation. By minimizing variation in the production process, a consistent and repeatable process can be developed and monitored using control chart theory.

For every process, upper and lower control limits can be mathematically defined and system controls can be defined. It‟s important to recognize that your system can be in control and waste can still exist. A system in control that develops waste is going to consistently waste resources. A system in control that produces waste on a consistent basis will continue to produce a loss in revenue. Once your system is in control, you have the means to measure the system, define operating targets for the system, analyze the loss causes, develop improvement theories, test the theories, study the results, and ultimately reduce waste and by analyzing the statistical evidence of suggested improvements.

GREASE COLLECTION SYSTEM FOR BIO DIESEL BY: ROBERT D JUDSON, PE

Emergent Construction Technologies designed, fabricated, and installed a grease recovery system for Odom‟s Tennessee Pride, a pork processing plant. The recovery system was installed on a 6,000/lb/hr sausage cooker to collect airborne grease particles from the cooker hood exhaust and cooking grease from the cooker cooling water stream.

The airborne grease collection system is made up of a roof mounted air scrubber/demister and a skimmer tank with two tank mounted belt skimmers for floating grease removal.

The air scrubber consists of an air receiver and baffled demister screens with a steam back wash assembly. Airborne grease particles are collected from the stack exhaust on a stainless demister screen and steam back washed to a skimmer tank. Back wash is done through a PLC differential pressure monitoring system. Cooker oil-laden cooling water is recovered at the cooker discharge and reclaimed in a common skimmer tank.

Oil recovery from the two waste oil streams yield three totes of high quality “lard” a day or approximately 3,000 lbs/day. The recovered grease is sold for bio-diesel conversion. Income from grease sales is projected at $100,000/yr at a current price of $.10/lb. The efficient removal of the oil and greases from the plant wastewater stream has brought the plant‟s FOG discharge to the City Municipal Wastewater plant in compliance with the City‟s effluent requirements. The reduced oil loadings to the sewer has eliminated FOG wastewater surcharges and eliminated the need for a pending wastewater treatment plant.

ELIMINATING SEWER SURCHARGES BY: ROBERT D JUDSON, PE Congress enacted Public Law 92-500 in the mid-seventies to provide a means to recover costs of waste treatment from industrial users. The law requires any industry that discharges wastes into a public water supply to pay their pro rata share of treatment cost. Municipal waste strengths are measured in terms of BOD (biological oxygen demand), SS (suspended solids) and FOG (fats oils and greases). Domestic values for wastes typically run 300 PPM for BOD, 200 PPM for SS and less than 1.0 PPM for FOG. The surcharges are applied on a per pound basis by converting the concentration of wastes to lb/day by using the flow/day of wastewater which is then converted to lbs/month. We have all seen huge surcharges for waste treatment with annual billings in the $500,000 to $1,000,000 range for large facilities. The final attempt to minimize the surcharge is at the treatment plant. However, we believe there are four legs of the stool for eliminating wastewater; they are: Flow The first component of the equation that drives your surcharge is flow and the other is the waste source itself. The flow component can be identified and managed with a succinct water conservation program. The program needs to have buy-in from operations and sanitation for it to work effectively. The sources of flows need to be identified and studied to determine how flow reductions can be achieved – remember, we can‟t control what we don‟t measure.

Waste Characterization This can be done by spending time on the floor talking with your operators and hourly workers. Steps include: complete flow diagrams of the waste streams including all raw materials that become waste or hit the flow; determine concentrations and volumes and convert them into flow values, BOD concentrations, suspended solids and FOG; determine what can be done to remove or minimize the waste at its source before it is diluted with other waste stream products and becomes very expensive to remove.

Recycle Identification This phase includes evaluation of the wastes to determine what can be recovered as by-products for resale. It could also include evaluation of processes to determine if equipment or process changes can be made to reduce waste resulting from additional wash-downs and change-overs or improved yields resulting from alternate process equipment.

Waste Treatment Optimization There are many types of treatment facilities including DAF, Trickling Filter, Extended Aeration, Spray Irrigation, Overland Flow, etc. The context of this brief summary does not allow time to expand on the many solutions that are available. However, each and every one has various opportunities for improvement.

Emergent has helped clients achieve state environmental awards as a result of improved waste treatment operations. The operations were a combination of flow reduction methods, waste reductions at the sources inside the plant and waste treatment operational improvements. One client was slated to build a new waste treatment facility to stay in compliance with their permit, only to find they could recover a bi-product in the waste stream that produced annual revenue in excess of $90,000 which eliminated the need to build a $1.25 Million waste treatment plant. Another facility was slated to remove their existing DAF and replace it with a new treatment system. We showed our client a method to modify their existing DAF piping and sludge wasting process in conjunction with operational changes to include hydrogen peroxide injection and avoided the $750,000 to replace their DAF. Annual surcharges of approximately $350,000/year were realized for an investment of $40,000.

Emergent has the staff and experience to assist you with your wastewater needs. Before you spend big dollars treating your wastes, see what you can do to eliminate them. It may be more profitable to treat individual waste streams through isolation than to build the big waste treatment project. i have this walk-in freezer with cracked floors(bulging). what is the typical design in constructing the floor of walk-in freezer maintaining -20C room temp. the room is located in ground floor. thanks!

RE: floor construction of walk-in freezer

EnergyProfessional (Mechanical) 6 Aug 13 07:22 I would think the slab is on a layer of insulation, that also helps with thermal stress.

Obvioulsy all things can go wrong, lack of vapor barrier can cause freezing damage, bad underlayment, too thin.....

RE: floor construction of walk-in freezer

chicopee (Mechanical) 6 Aug 13 10:10 Sound like frost heave, so it appears that somebody messed up in the construction or design.

RE: floor construction of walk-in freezer

BronYrAur (Mechanical) 6 Aug 13 10:16 I haven't done many, but the ones I have done all had radiant heat tubing under the floor. Not to heat the floor, but to prevent the freezer from freezing the ground below. The ones I did had glycol tubing, but I have heard that just blowing air through small "ductwork" under the concrete works too.

If you Google "freezer permafrost" you should come up with a lot of info. Here is a Wirsbo link: http://www.uponor-usa.com/Misc/Applications/Permaf...

The heat sources on my jobs were done by others and used refrigeration rejection heat to warm the water. I don't remember the temperatures off hand, but the supply was something like 70 deg F. The return coming back was very cold to the touch. So much so that we had to insulate it to prevent sweating. Probably 50 deg F or less. Again, the point is to just keep the ground from freezing nothing more.

RE: floor construction of walk-in freezer

mtngreen (Mechanical) 6 Aug 13 11:43 Freezers require an underfloor heating system as explained above or the frost will heave the concrete. Either a radiant system (typically operates at 60F) or an underslab ventilation system, either forced or gravity.

RE: floor construction of walk-in freezer

EnergyProfessional (Mechanical) 6 Aug 13 13:25 I think underslab ventialtion will cause all kinds of problems like mold etc. Use glycol as described above.

RE: floor construction of walk-in freezer

rickitek (Mechanical) (OP) 7 Aug 13 02:17 some contractors i talked says it doesnt need to put heating systems but i'll go with the installation of heating system using heating cables to be sure. and some articles ive read over the net says drain

pipes beneath the floor should be installed to drain water or condensate but some did not mention it. is it really need?

RE: floor construction of walk-in freezer

BronYrAur (Mechanical) 7 Aug 13 09:58 I would think that answer is entirely dependent on the soil conditions, elevations, etc. There should be a good vapor barrier between freezer and ground, so I don't think the water would be coming from the freezer.

You might want drains in the freezer itself in the even of a water leak or something else, but I don't think you need them for the permafrost protection.

RE: floor construction of walk-in freezer

rickitek (Mechanical) (OP) 8 Aug 13 11:53 yes, i already finalized the plan and no need to install drain pipes beneath the floor. as i read on some articles aside from draining they use it also as heating system using natural draft. thanks everyone for all the replies!

Best Ways to Solve Freezer Floor Heaving Problem dear all, the floor for this cold storage facility consists of following (from up to down): concrete slab insulation dirt the moisture in the dirt freezes and causes the floor to heave. digging out the concrete and insulation, digging the dirt, putting vapor barrier, putting everything else back is not an option since it costs a lot. the floor, below the insulation layer, must be heated in some ways. what are the best ideas to do so? one idea is to use glycol pipes, the other is using probes into drilled holes all over the floor. any other idea?

You don't have moisture in the soil, you have water. One approach may be to dig a French drain around the building and just pump out the water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_drain You need to consult (pay $$$) a professional civil engineer who is familiar with the geology of your building location. That will be the best return on your investment.

Agree with BSR. Is there a low water table?

How big is the stab? length/width? how much of it is freezer space?

Draining the water would be much better than having heated earth beneath the freezer.

How to drain frozen water without heating it? Is this a seasonal issue I hope and not in the tropics.

Could you drill and probe the floor for wet spots then suck it out with a sump after you install the perimeter drain?

Check your downspouts. Is the rain water taken away properly? underground leak in the main? luck to ya it's about 400 ft by 450 ft and all of them is cold storage. it's not in the tropic and yes a seasonal issue. yes the rain water is taken away properly. and no leak in the main, checked.

Being seasonal. and such a large floor.. Is it safe to assume the heaving is primarily at the perimeter?

If so? Could perimeter below grade heating be employed and effective?

There are a lot of heated sidewalks and roads and driveways... they can be are efficient Pex installed in a trench vertically rather than horizontally with insulation on top would be worth considering. Every 300 feet or so it would need to re-enter the building and go though a hot water on demand unit to bring the temp back up. as a bonus.. you wouldn't be heating the freezer -frozen food for thought Even if the water table is low, moisture will still migrate into the subfloor area and freeze into ice lenses that cause the floor to heave. Preventing this requires a vapor barrier, insulation, and heat.

There may be some horizontal drilling techniques that enable XLPE tubing to be pulled in after the fact. __________________ You could install an insulating floor on to of the old one.

You could build a proper floor somewhere else and move the structure of the cold store onto it.

You could go Japanese and streamline your production to the extent that a cold store is no longer needed.

You could put a cold store on wheels out in the yard.

Then, without seeing it, what do I know? what do you need to know? ask me. i think the best idea is to drill it horizontally and use some heating to melt the ice. and then natural/forced ventilation for the future. and going Japanese is also a great idea!

I think that Tornado Moosie and myself will sit around, drink beer and watch you excavate the old floor out, there will be no standing water, the French drain can be saved for a wet basement. the heater idea is just nuts, you'll pay on both ends of that deal......pay for heat, then pay to move it via refrigeration. Lay down a few mils of barrier NOT retarder. backfill, then Moossie can toss 3 steaks on the bbq and monitor you to make sure you don't end up with a mix that will fail his slump test, make your pour and we'll pack it up and leave!

i kind of agree with you on the french drain. but the insulation layer is used to prevent cool migrate down to heated area. i'm heating below the insulation and cooling above the insulation. like i said, digging the whole thing out is too expensive. multi-million. what do you think about the boring horizontally into the under-floor and using natural/forced ventilation?

I'd use this first https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJjEJyK4ia8 if the moisture is entering here your existing set-up is a failed set-up design/installation. if the moisture is fairly small you can install a 5+ mil layer. seal the edges and put another surface over that) this method is often used in finished basements with hardwood or carpet covering hard insulation over a concrete slab In a year-round warm location, that works. You would typically run a grid of PVC pipes under the floor, spaced maybe 3-4 feet apart. Pipe sizes would depend on how long and many the runs are.

In seasonal locations, you probably need liquid, such as propylene glycol and water. I know of an older facility that once used oil, but eventually it sprang a leak, entailing some expensive remediation. yes. and i need to figure out a way to melt down the current glacier too.

Going Japanese is the best idea. "What you don't have, can't leak" - the late Dr. Trevor Kletz,

internationally-renowned safety guru.

For some years there was a guy named Jack Piho (iirc) at St. Onge, Ruff, & Associates in York, PA, who was a guru on ice lenses and their prevention/remediation. You might be able to find some online articles.

I have to agree with a linear french drain around the perimeter of the building 1 meter deep with vapor proof lining on the building side and bottom...

Ice does not drain via French drains. i wish it did. ice is not that romantic! this might help https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypy2S8QOLa0 I'd add a 5-6 mil poly as well Well you would have to let the building heat up and run dehumidifiers until the moisture was evaporated to an acceptable level...the french drains are to eliminate further ingress of moisture... https://www.sunbeltrentals.com/services/climatecontrol/dehumidification/refrigerantdehumidifiers/movincool-classic-60/ Maybe you could just evaporate the ice away.... http://www.everything-ice.com/dehumidification/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(phase_transition) If you live in an area where they employ hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas, maybe an earthquake will solve your problems for you.

Funny to see this post.

Again a typical purchasers - salesman discussion: How can we save on the budget?

Splitting up the project? Organise everything yourself?

At least you can overcome the refrigerated room installers high cost for installing a correct floor.

Hey, with that layer of insulation we don't need the heating cables.

There are some solutions: 

if you can drill underneath you can install heating cables/tubes and start thawing the ice.



You can install a heating cable in/on the slab that forms the actual floor, put a PUR layer over it and a new concrete slab. This will heighten the actual floor at least 15cm, if not more.



If the actual floor is damaged already, dismantle the room, take out the broken floor and build it up as it should be.

I'm not an expert on ice or concrete, but offer the following.

If it's seasonal, then there are times when the moisture is not frozen??

You indicate that it's only the perimeter that's affected.

What if you drilled in tubes as others have suggested, but leave them open-ended and then force in "dried air", allowing that to come back to the building perimeter through the under slab leveling material and creating a dry equilibrium in the under slab material. (Most slabs would have crusher dust/grit of some sort below the membrane that would easily enable air flow.)

Just thinking that by keeping that area dry, there would never be heaving from frozen water. With the refrigeration plant that you already have in place, making dry compressed air is relatively simple.

Just an Engineer from the land down under.

Would suggest a slight expansion on this- Drill as suggested, but instead of pushing the air have every 2nd tube being a vapor extraction hooked up to a vacuum pump. Heat could be supplied by warm air tubes or PEX type piping as prior suggestion.

Frost heave is only a problem if the ground water repeatedly freezes and thaws. The first thaw expands the soil creating cavities for more water to enter. The extra water expands the soil more and you have a vicious cycle.

You have two options.

Option 1 Prevent the ground water from freezing in the first place. Too late for that and remedial work over that area will be very expensive.

Option 2 Keep the ground water continuously frozen 24/7/365. The problem you have now never gets any worse. Economics suggests that if the cold store is empty it is cheaper not to keep it at low temperature. You pay a cost/time premium reducing the temperature from ambient when you want to increase capacity again, but the maths say it is still cheaper. Now add the cost of solving your ground heave problem into the equation and leaving the store cold all the time becomes the cheapest option.

I just wonder where the refrigeration units are dropping all the condensate. This may be the cause of all the water under the slab. And it just needs to be piped way.

The floor was cheaply done. Insulation on top of the soil. The insulation will get saturated with water or even with it waterproof the water level could rise and touch the concrete. So what other corners did they cut?

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty, pristine body but rather to come sliding in sideways, all used up and exclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!"

The OP's problem has nothing whatsoever to do with condensate from refrigeration units.

I was working on a walk-in at a market once. it was a balmy 15 degrees inside. the heater wrap on the condensate failed, the 5/8's copper pipe looked like an M-80 blew it open! ice is very strong Of course, but that's not the OP's problem, either. (Unless maybe a separate problem.)

How do you know? They could have the drains running right through the slab....in any case it could be adding to the problem....

To find out if the problem is caused by seepage or condensation, tape a 2' x 2' piece of plastic to the floor during normal conditions when the slab isn't noticeably wet. Remove the plastic after 24 hours, and see if the concrete under it is damp. If it is, then a vapor barrier wasn't installed under the slab when it was poured.

Pull down temperature in Cold Room Hi everybody In two week I will pull down the temperature in a cold room which will operate at -28ºC The first Step is lower the temperature till +2ºC The question is: How long must I keep the temperature at +2ºC before moving to -28ºC? The cold room is 30x60x 12m (wxdxh) appreciate your very kind comments Gwapa Hi gwapa.

With the room closed up run at +4 'C and check the amount of water coming out of condensate drain, measure it in a big bucket. When the rate slows right down it means you have dried out the concrete floor to a point, daily check for shrinkage of floor, it will shrink a lot, had one recently of similar size and it shrank approx. 20 mm at each wall, check for cracking as well. Could take a week or more.

Then run at -2'C for a week, and slowly bring down 5 degrees at a time, monitoring shrinkage daily.

The concrete of the floor must be at least 30 days old when you start the pull down.

Then I should cool down to 1°C for some days and then cool it down to the desired temperature with +/- 2°C/Day. You will see that the system will hang around -10°C until all the concrete will be frozen. This can last for several days.

Hi Peter_1.

You must live in the perfect world, where the wear slab is poured and everyone stands around for a month.

Even after a month the concrete crust will powderize if frozen. Remember Gwapa is in Venezuela, probably not heard of special concrete mixes, fast cure, whatever.

Thanks Magoo It is a good method to check the dryness of the cold room.

I was thought to measure the Cold-room Dew point at a Dry bulb of +2ºC What do you think?

What product did you use to seal the shrank of approx. 20 mm???

What in the crank?

Finally I agree that shareholder do not wait one month the full the cold room with products Appreciate you comments Regards GWAPA There's a difference between curing and drying of concrete. It was a typo: 3 days at temperatures you encounter in Venezuela.

Do you notice also a hanging point around -10°C? turn the heater mat up so it runs [within reason]and set the room set point to 2-3 deg C for at least 3-4 days to dry / cure the concrete and pull the moisture out, i would pull it down in two more 24hr .stages, -10 then final set point. Once its dry its down to how good the mix was over here it has to have a certain concentration of granite.

Hi Gwapa.

My method of pull down has developed over many decades, OK I am old.

But running room at + 4 , you operating evaps at or below O 'C which draws and accumulates moisture from concrete slowly, limited cracking. The idea of checking the condensate is a direct indication of moisture release from concrete.

OK after shrinkage has stabilized fill the void with construction foam fill. It comes in rolls and looks like a mile long sausage, insulation thing. Lightly pack into gap and cover top with selastic . Selastic will move and not crack open like silicon filler.

Remember that the outer metal skin of Coldstore is the vapour barrier, once you go low temp., check that there is no condensation anywhere on outer skin of cold store.

Generally here in NZ the inner panel skin is sealant free so as to draw any moisture out of panel, so outer metal skin seal is super important to stop moisture/ice building.

Hi guys, Sorry to jump in, but yes I did noticed before when we started up a cold storage that the temperature did hang around a certain temperature for a few days before going to the final temperature.

I did not quite understand about the concrete freezing reference though. Is this referring to the absorption of the heat of fusion from the water in the concrete ? Why -10 C Magoo Thanks again What do you think if we measure the dew point?

What would be the dew point temp. at +2ÂşC Db Temp. to restart to pull down the temperature to negative range?

Could it be -21ÂşC??

Thanks Gwapa Hi Gwapa.

Generally I do not monitor wet bulb, as it will be high RH anyway, but log very closely the water coming out of evaps, as well walk around with an infa red thermometer and check the actual concrete floor surface temps., [you will be surprised how warm they are at start of pull down ] and shrinkage and possible cracking, until they have stabilized with room temps..

The balance ports will keep balancing with fresh air and resultant moisture.

Peter 1 Thanks for your advise Could you tell me more about your experience regarding to: "You will see that the system will hang around -10°C until all the concrete will be frozen. This can last for several days."

GWAPA Hi Gwapa.

So what happened with the pull-down of your coldstore.

Share the process you actually followed, and the resultant profile Magoo

We low the temperature untill +3ºC and hold the process till next year.

I will inform you all Thanks GWAPA hi jaysephus Yes we do have heating mat in front and inside the door and also we have a six inches coil under floor in where atmospheric air is blowing at 30ºC to heat the under floor.

We finally arrived to -28ºC I have to thanks Magoo for the idea to monitor very closely the water coming out of evaps at +3ºC. We observed it and when the water coming from evap become minimal we went below 0ºC. We observed too that at -10ºC the temperature did not low as faster as over -10ºC. At the beginning when we started to low the temperature the ammoniac pump went out many times for the pressure differential protection.

Everything is now running perfect Thanks for the advice of all you Regards GWAPA Hi all.

I'm thinking about build a new freezer. I'm not going to build the unit till next year, but I need to pour a slab that it will sit on this year. The question is should I get involved in the expense of insulating the floor, possible heating the floor etc. Or should I pour the slab 6" lower than the finished floor and plan on installing a freezer panel floor?

Thanks What about to tell us about size of your freezer L x W x H (meters, feet), and some more info about type and quantity of freezing goods

.....

I looked at all your previous posts they are all to do with possibly the same freezer room.

If you are taking the advice given in earlier posts and starting again GOOD to here. Leave a set down in the slab to allow for the new room to be constructed so the floor is 4" - 5" below the rest of the building then concrete is poured inside the room and made level with floor outside the freezer room . his is the correct way to build a freezer with a concrete floored room .

Oh Yes of course I forgot Heating under the insulation or airflow under the insulation and out the end of the room via PVC piping laid down.

Last edited by Toolman; 09-01-2008 at 06:38 AM. Toolman; Are you saying we should not put heat under a Freezer floor Josip- Size is about 18' wide 40' long and 13' high. Not sure what will be stored. I have 3000 sf freezer on site and 4000 sf fridge. this is an unused space that I'm going to try and rent. Possibly Ice cream so temps may be in the -20F to -30F. Toolman Unfortunately I can't afford to do anything to the other unit. I have mentioned in the past.

They just keep struggling along. As I learn more about refrigeration the floor seems to be one of the most important.

This unit will be about 2 feet away from the older one with a 12 inch brick wall between.

Do you have a detail of the floor? The space is 24" below where I want the finished floor so I Can do almost anything now. Heat? Insulation? Vapor barrier? Thermal break? I don't want to get crazy with

it because it may never be a freezer.

As always thanks for your help well it does need a floor heater for sure, you need to put a concrete sub floor in it with a smooth finish or put sand on top ,then the heater mat,[the previous to stop damage] then 100mm at least insulation and finally the finish depth of concrete, that will depend on the weight of traffic but at least 100mm re-enforced. and donâ€&#x;t forget that the wall panels go in on the sub floor then the rest inside the finished box.

Failure to fit one will result in frost heave which has been covered in previous posts.

Thus 5,5m x 12m x 4m, nice small ice cream storage with (-20*F/-28*C) temperature, but.... ....do you know or you don't know

.....

....if you plan to rent it as ice cream storage you should invest some more money now (renting such of low temp storage is also under higher prices

)....later on it will be too expensive to transform it

to freezer storage... ....yes, the execution of freezer room floor is very important....you have to do it properly for purpose or forget about freezer storage....

Originally Posted by jayjay

Heat? insulation? vapor barrier? Thermal break? I don't want to get crazy with it because it may never be a freezer.

As always thanks for your help you need: bottom slab with heating system...installation of walls and ceiling panels.....vapor barrier, insulation...normal slab...installation of racks.... why to get crazy....make it right or forget....all you need is (not love), but right decision and money....the rest is quite simply...let's say ....anyhow you must decide what you want and then we can help much more.....

Best regards, Josip Can I just leave the floor a bit lower then install a insulated floor panel above it and not use any heaters? Seems like if that will work, it will be the least expensive for now.

My other unit has no heat it looks like trenches were dug every few feet under the slab. I guess to allow air to flow. No problem yet.

What did toolman mean by no heat?

Any detail of all the different methods? This way I can get my sub slab moving along.

If you use it as a freezer, eventually the ground will freeze below it and heave the floor, no matter how much insulation you put in it. If it only runs a few months of the year you might get away with it. But it will freeze down 20 feet or so, despite the insulation, in time.

There are several ways to put heat under the slab. Liquid heated by the compressors, warm air blown underneath are common.

You might put tubing under the slab, which could be hooked up later.

Thatâ€&#x;s what I was thinking just run some pex and deal with it latter. Can't some type of heat exchanger from the compressor do it? yes sorry forgot that bit , have edited my earlier posting to mention heating or ventilation 60% of the time it works every time.

added to others' comments .... under floor ventilation may be of cheaper option; floor heating could be expensive when maintenance is NOT simple jobs.

Forced ventilation is necessary.

Never trust natural ventilation because it sucks!

You should study the AS standard of car park‟s ventilation design to design good ventilation for your under floor. from top down, you need 1] point loads of your racking system if there is any; 2] floor hardener if you are allowing heavy vehicle moving around; 3] concrete which its thickness subject to above; 4] 2 layers insulated panel; 5] vapour barrier; 6] structure floor slab; 7] ground beams; 8] under floor ventilation void; 9] turfing/vapor barrier for ground soils Thanks for info everyone but nobody has a simple detail of a section of the whole floor assembly?

I can't find AS standard of car park‟s ventilation design?

Get a professional cool room builder to put together a price and spec for you so they do it , that’s there job its a bit like a cool room builder doing the refrigeration work themselves they will stuff it up and once its stuffed up its very hard to fix !!

60% of the time it works every time. i'm a builder so if I have specs its no big deal. As I said before it may never be a freezer so I would like to keep the investment down. If I used a freezer with a panelized floor do I still need heat in the floor? Can't I just keep the panels off the slab and let the air move around it.

If you do not address the under floor heat or ventilation, you will be dealing with some bad problems of floor heaving later on.

You need to hire a refrigeration consulting engineer to prepare you a specification and check the construction. It will be money well spent in the long run.

Ken Think it is AS1668 pat 1 & pt2 ... i get the project architect to produce the sectional details from my explanations.

They are better in the details esp. esthetic views.

Hi, jazjaz Originally Posted by jayjay

Thanks for info everyone but nobody has a simple detail of a section of the whole floor assembly?

I can't find AS standard of car park‟s ventilation design?

Is this of some help Best regards, Josip

, of course you can install electrical heating system if you want...

I do not agree, (only partially

)....architects should support always good technical solution......I

have many examples of bad designing (making good outlook) done by architects...but that is another long story Thanks josip thatâ€&#x;s what I was looking for.

Can I use spray foam? Instead of rigid panels. Seems like it would work better there would be no joints Whatâ€&#x;s the best way to get the heat from my compressors and send it under the floor? If the units were inside it would be easy. With everything outside how should I do it?

Use a glycol system to circulate warm glycol under the floor. Recover the heat from the compressor discharge and/or condenser depending on the type condenser you have.

How do I recover the heat from the compressor? I have air cooled condensers.

I wrote in the Cool & Comfort issue of the 3tht quarter of 2007 a Dutch article about freezer floors and the different ways of heating the under floor.

Do you mind Josip I'm posting my figures I made for this article?

If interested, I can post the whole article but it's in Dutch of course and i was also translated for the French part of our country.

It's better to keep your mouth shut and give the impression that you're stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. best way in my opinion would to fit a plate exchanger on the discharge condenser line through a three way valve,this would have to have either a temperature or pressure control to maintain the correct head pressure,and as suggested hook it up to a glycol system,this may need heated back up to maintain the 6-9 deg C needed to match a heater mat. getting complicated isnt it !, just fit a heater mat in one two or more sections, it ,s not the norm because its the most expensive. of course, please.....we can "read" pictures in any language

....then if we need we can ask you

about details....

Best regards, Josip This is the link to the whole article and in attachments the pdf of the freezer floor my son made in Autocad For the moment, I only have it in Dutch. It is the publisher who translates it. http://www.megaupload.com/nl/?d=N1K8QVFS diepvries doorsnede.pdf (92.2 KB, 92 views) diepvries doorsnede2.pdf (89.7 KB, 85 views) Old gas bottle, your idea is very good but I don't see why you need a 3 way valve. Just switch the pump on and off if you want to control the temperature of the underground.

But, if you install a PHE in the liquid before it flows to the TEV (heating up the under floor with the energy 'stored' in the liquid) then this will give you a huge increase in liquid enthalpy.

Plot this once ion a log/p and you will see.

A heater mat is the smallest cost if you only look the initial cost.

We have a rather small (10 x 15 m or 30 x 45 ft) freezer running where the probes of the under floor are connected to a supervising system. If you switch off the heating for 6 months (!!), then there's a

temperature drop of +/- 0.6 (from 6.6 to 6.0) So, the underground is radiating in this example enough energy.

Translation of the pdf : Bovenbeton = upper concrete 2° laag folie = 2nd layer of plastic 2° laag PU = second layer PU-isolation Onderbeton = lower concrete floor Verwarming = heating Alternatief luchtkanaal: second possible heating method with plastic tubes burried in the underground (in the text is an explanation why I don't like this solution) Betonnet= concrete reinforcement mesh Stootvoeg= expansion seem Sandwichpaneel = Sandwich with tuna Onderbreking staalplaat = steel of the underside of the panel is removed.

Hi, jayjay

How do I recover the heat from the compressor? I have air cooled condensers.

Not a simple answer...and not a cheap solution....on discharge line you have to install heat exchanger (desuperheater) to heat your glycol for under floor heating, but...you need also storage tank, pump/s, controls... check links to get a picture... ....http://www.doucetteindustri es.com/desuperheater.html http://www.doucetteindustries. com/ac_desuperheater.pdf http://www.doucetteindustries. com/ca...uperheater.pdf not exactly what you need, but with some modification...almost perfect if you not forget to utilize that also for sanitary water... you can Google for more....

Josip, how we do it here in Belgium most of the times, installing a normal PHE in the discharge or even better in the liquid line, connect it to a radiant heating system (PE tubes), buried in the under concrete floor.

A small collector (image is for 3 circuits) for the different PE tubes, circulation pump, Small expansion vessel, with control manometer and filling connection.

Insert on 3 places a probe (retractable afterwards in a spare PE-Tube going to the middle of the under floor, bend the end of the PE with a so that the concrete can't flow in the PE tube) so that you have a control of the temperatures of the underground.

What's the English name for the white plastic straps?

Re: freezer floor construction http://www.thermon.com/us/catalog/us...es/CPD1038.pdf http://www.heatec.com.au/page9.html http://www.irc.wisc.edu/file.php?id=119 http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/V3630E/V3630E08.htm fig 33 and 34 see your point peter, i have never done this before and was just thinking outlawed, but what happens when the reclaimed heat from the condenser is not enough, have you had any problems with the head pressure dropping to much? other thing is,i think price is a consideration here.

If you are worried about "over condensing" you can use the VG48AC-1C Head pressure modulated by pass valve from Johnson Controls http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/publi...en/search.html .

I agree with Peter_1 that it is the best long term option that allows the greatest savings and flexibility, why waste primary energy when you can re-use the waste heat from the refrigeration system?

Peter, we call the wite straps "zip strips" or "tie straps" here.

You need +/- 15 to 20 W/m² (in our regions of course) under floor heating capacity, so this is a rather small amount of heat.

So for a freezer of 6 x 14 m (18 x 40 '), I should install a +/- 15 HP. This surface needs +/- 1.68 kW (= 6 x 14 x 20) under floor heating (=5.460 BTU/h) The refrigerant mass flow = 0.1433 kg/s (0.3159 lb/s) and I take the enthalpy difference of the liquid at 30 °C (86°F)and 12°C (53.6 °F) assuming that the PHE in the liquid works with a DT of 6K , compared to the soil temperature.

This flow gives us 4.200 W, so more than enough to heat the under floor.

Adding this huge sub cool will increase the COP from 1.67 to 2.16 or in other words, your compressor will absorb 30% less power for the same capacity.

With R404a at -30°C, condensing at 35°C (95°F)and 5°C sub cooling at the condenser, discharge temperature = +/- 61°C (142°F) This gives 23.26 kW (6.61 TR -79.366 BTU/hr) condenser capacity.

A desuperheater with a DT of 15K will add 4.4 kW (15.013 BTU/h) to the water (=+/- 20% of what's available) So condensing completely is much more efficient because you add theoretically 5 times more energy to the water.

Just did rough calculations but it gives a good idea of the savings you can expect.

Last edited by Peter_1; 20-01-2008 at 09:13 PM. Forgot something, If you use PE pipes (the black ones which we call here socarex tubes), then you have to install a circulating pump which can pump sanitary water, so a stainless steel inner housing.

Otherwise the pump will rust inside because the PE pipes don't have a vapor barrier and oxygen will come into the circuit.

Peter, here they are known as cable ties.

Never use a refrigeration plant with the purpose to heat very hot water.

You must see this heat as something the machine gives you for free and you must use this in the best way for the compressors, not for your water requirements.

So increasing HP to increase water temperature is a waste of energy. If your client is asking to increase water temperature, this can easily be done with shutting of the condenser fans, refuse to do this and explain also why.

The savings he/she thinks they make with the warmer water so that no electrical after-heating is needed will be more then lost due to the decreased COP (higher condensing pressures) Don't worry about over-condensing in our countries, I have R404a packs running in winter at 9 bar (130 psi) and evaporating at 4.8 bar (70 psi) which gives theoretical COP's of 7.7 (!) with mechanical Danfoss TEV's.

There's of course no much energy left to heat water under these conditions.

Wow! I need some time to digest all that info. I think I may look into all your first suggestions which was to find an engineer and have something designed. This is way over my head Especially the cable tie tee, difficult to install Re: freezer floor construction Good info there peter and something to offer the customers who care about the planet as opposed to just the cheapest solution.

Deserves a thread on its own for reference, if cost effective condensing units were available with the PHE and controls built in it could be a real step forward, Finally poured floor; Installed PEX tubing for future heat; Took some time but got it done. Thanks for all info.