One of the greatest challenges the transportation industry has ever seen is transportation of temperature sensitive products. Balancing between maintaining the precise temperature and cost associated with it has baffled the industry to implement the cost-effective strategies for streamlining global demand of temperature controlled logistics. In the meantime, the industry has to ensure that the international regulations and guidelines are not compromised. In case of breach of regulations, heavy fines are implemented and the prestigious reputation of the company is at stake.
In 2015, India’s infrastructure gap in reefer transport was assessed at 52,826 units; the country is estimated to have only 9000-10000 long haul reefer trucks and zero reefer containers in use [1]. Figure 1 identifies that how transportation is an integral part of the logistic industry.
PronGO® provides logistic solution which can fill in the empty places created by the unavailability of the reefer based transportation system. PronGO® logistics solution identifies need of temperature maintenance at every step of the cold chain logistics infrastructure. It’s a complete temperature controlled logistic solution for every kind of distribution be it from manufacturing facility to distributor to retailer or to the consumer. Being versatile in nature, it can be easily customized and fits in the operational requirement of every individual; it is cost-effective and easy to maintain and operate.
Component 1 PCM (Phase Changing Materials)
A phase change material absorbs energy, stores it in the form of latent heat and utilizes wherever necessary. They maintain constant temperature while changing their physical form i.e. from liquid to solid or vice versa. Phase changing being a reversible process, the high energy density behaves as a thermal reservoir which can be used repeatedly.
Component 2 Roto-Molded Insulated Container
Any PCM without a good insulation lacks in its performance. Roto-molded Insulated containers have at least 25 mm PUF insulation, which acts the first shield between varying temperatures (i.e. internal and ambient). Insulation, therefore, increases the efficiency of the PCM, thus resulting in longer retention time i.e. increased distribution radius.
Component 3 PronGO® Charging Station
A charged PCM utilizes its latent heat of phase change which is approximately 100 times higher than its sensible heat. Therefore for deriving the best performance a PCM has to be completely solidified before using it. For complete and effective charging, it is preferred to use a Plate freezer.
PronGo® Logistics solution is easy to assemble and assures perfect temperature maintenance during the claimed retention time. Currently, PronGo® Logistics solution is capable of maintaining temperature in 2 ranges:
1) Frozen Application (-15 to -25 Deg C)
2) Chilled Application (2 to 8 Deg C)
Figure 2: Three components of PronGO® logistics Solution
Case Study 1:
A 50 liter roto-molded box was taken and experimented upon with the under-written parameters. The main objective of the experiment was to determine the number of retention hours obtained with the current placement of the thermoTab™ containing a suitable PCM solution at -20 Deg C.
- Internal Capacity: 50 liters
• Insulation Type and Thickness: PUF and 25mm
• Temperature to be maintained: -20 Deg C
• Volume of PCM: 23 liters
• Payload Volume: 27 liters
• Retention hours obtained: 16 hours
Case Study 2:
A 50 liter roto-molded box was taken and experimented upon. The main objective of the experiment was to determine the number of retention hours obtained with the current placement of the thermoTab™ containing a suitable PCM solution between 2 to 8 Deg C.
- Internal Capacity: 50 liter
• Insulation Type and Thickness: PUF and 25mm
• Temperature to be maintained: 2 to 8 Deg C
• Volume of PCM: 19 liters
• Payload Volume: 31 liters
• Retention hours obtained: 48 hours
Figure 4: Thermotab™ placement and temperature validation
Figure 5: Thermotab™ placement and temperature validation
Conclusion
Use of PCM as the temperature specific logistics solution provides the following advantages:
- a)Precise Temperature Backup:Greatly increases the available protection against adverse low and high environmental temperatures.
b) More Payload: Without affecting the thermal performance, we can increase the payload, thanks to PCM technology.
c) Low Shipment/Consignment Weight: Similar to payload volume, a reduction in total system weight could be achieved by using PCM, while maintaining thermal performance.
d) Easy to Use: There are only two component to be placed i.e. the roto-molded insulated box and the PCM thermotab, making assembly simpler and faster.
e) Lower Cost: With a payback of less than two years and remaining years of saving is achieved as the operating cost of PCM is very less as compared to other conventional solutions.
f) Increased Distribution Radius: Greater retention is a virtue of high latent heat of the PCM.
g) Decreased Wastage: With precise temperature maintenance, no perishable item is wasted.
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