The Cold Storage Humidification Challenge
Your cold storage facility requires proper humidity levels to maintain product quality. Here are the challenges you are likely to face with humidity fluctuations.
Excess Moisture
The shelf life of produce depends on its storage environment. Without the right moisture levels, produce suppliers and retailers experience high loss percentages. Anything less than 95%-99% relative humidity (RH) often results in brown spots, early rotting and profit loss.
Temperature Fluctuations
When the cold storage doors open, warm air causes the temperature to drop below the dew point and the water condenses, drips, and damages. This causes the relative humidity to plummet, and the warmer air draws moisture from wherever it can, including produce.
Humidifiers have the dual challenge of maintaining the right moisture and temperature – without wetting, fluctuating, or failing.
Contaminants
Throughout its storage stay, produce must be kept clean. Dust, bacteria, mold and insects can spoil the products.
Eliminating these contaminants can be more complicated than keeping the room cold, as too little moisture simply moves dust around, and too much moisture creates mold.
The Self-Evaporative Solution
Self-evaporative technology in humidifiers can test the humidity level and automatically adjust it back to the set percentage. This solution enhances storage control, keeping temperatures stable and protecting produce from contamination.
Non-Wetting Humidification Creates Storage Control
Self-evaporative humidification reverses cohesion and boosts adhesion to minimize droplet size and cut their bonds with other water molecules.
The result is humidity that diffuses quickly, covers spaces thoroughly and evaporates completely. This non-wetting humidity permeates and protects products without leaving moisture behind — even through packing.
Keeps Temperatures Stable
Self-evaporative humidification reverses cohesion and boosts adhesion to minimize droplet size and cut their bonds with other water molecules.
The result is humidity that diffuses quickly, covers spaces thoroughly, and evaporates completely. This non-wetting humidity permeates and protects products, even through packaging, without leaving moisture behind.
Protects Products From Contaminants
Because self-evaporative technology is based on altering water-to-water molecular attractions, the droplets attract contaminants and neutralize them. Even when humidity is injected with water-soluble solutions for disinfection and preservation, the moisture always evaporates 100%.
This means produce is 100% covered by a hydrating, sanitizing fog that eliminates dust, bacteria, viruses, insects and more. With systems that can operate below zero, self-evaporative humidification reliably keeps products fresh.
How Humidification Improves Cold Storage and Why It Matters
Humidification is required in cold storage to prevent moisture loss — however, too much moisture can cause mold to form on fresh produce. Cold storage humidifiers help strike the perfect balance to ensure customers’ products stay fresh with a long-lasting shelf life.
Benefits of a Cold Storage Humidifier
Deciding to invest in proper cold storage humidity control can bring several benefits to your space and your budget, including:Â
Easy Installation
Cold storage humidification systems — especially those from Smart Fog — are easy to install in any space. Various models exist, including wall, in-duct and portable units.
Self-Evaporative Technology
Many humidifiers contain self-evaporative technology to maintain your ideal humidity levels in your cold storage area. They are non-wetting to ensure produce stays safe.
Energy-Efficient Solutions
The right humidifiers provide cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions in cold storage units. A humidifier will help maintain the proper temperature in the space.
Smart Fog’s Cold Storage Humidification Systems
Smart Fog has the ideal cold storage humidification systems to transform product quality and increase shelf life. Choose from the following humidifiers to enhance your cold storage facility:
ES100 Direct Space Humidifier
Our ES100 direct space humidifier is easy to use and can be installed on any wall. It is the market’s most efficient solution for direct space humidification.
TS100 In Duct Humidifier
The TS100 in-duct humidifierd can be installedr in new or existing ductwork to provide dry surfaces and sanitation throughout your whole storage space. It is a non-wetting humidifier that is low-maintenance and stays free of mold.
ES100M Portable Industrial Humidifier
The ES100M portable humidifier is similar to the ES100 model — only this one is on wheels. It is fully portable and can disinfect rooms with any water-dissolving chemical.
MS100 Custom Grid System
Smart Fog offers a fully customizable humidification grid system to fit any cold storage space. This model is designed to cover up to 10,000 square feet, so it is perfect for controlling humidity and temperatures in large spaces.