Dealing with extreme outdoor temperatures

Temperature plays an important role in storing perishable products. When outside temperatures can reach extreme values, as is the case in the Scandinavian countries, innovative solutions are needed. Artidor makes it happen.

The countries just south of the Arctic Circle have a wide temperature range throughout the year. On cold days it can dip to tens of degrees below zero, and on hot days temperatures over 30 degrees are no exception. This can sometimes make it difficult to store products under controlled conditions. One of our Scandinavian clients faced this problem. They process biological products that need to be stored at temperatures between 10 and 25 degrees Celsius: higher or lower temperatures affect the products causing a steep decline in shelf-life and quality. This would lead to a direct loss of inventory, and subsequently lower sales figures.

Because the storage space is located in an area with an explosion risk, they asked us if we could come up with a solution for them. Cooling and heating can often be provided with an explosion-proof variant of a modern air conditioner. But not in this case. The extremely low outside temperatures make heating with a heat pump impossible. Furthermore, the customer did not want to use energy unnecessarily: when room temperatures are between 10 and 25 degrees the system should remain switched off.

A smart controller

The extreme outside temperatures and the wide “deadband” demand a smart temperature controller that switches on an electric heater or a heat pump depending on the conditions. To keep energy costs as low as possible, the high efficiency of the heat pump is used as much as possible. We came up with a smart controller that meets all the requirements.

The heat pump is switched on and off through a special interface that sends a start or stop signal to the system. The unit then runs through the normal procedures as if it was switched on or off using the remote control. Interrupting the supply voltage would only lead to problems!

The client’s operation runs in two shifts, but no one is there during the weekend. In the event of a fault, it is important to intervene in good time to prevent damage to the product. A special module is therefore included to notify the technical service of faults directly with an SMS message. One less thing to worry about! The complete system has now been delivered, installed without difficulty and is in full operation.

Extreme conditions often demand new, innovative solutions. These types of challenges and innovative solutions are right up our alley. Are you looking to solve a particular problem? Don’t hesitate to contact us, we’ll be happy to help.