A cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of storage and distribution activities which maintain a given temperature range. It is used to help extend and ensure the shelf life of products such as perishable foodstuffs, chemicals, medical supplies and pharmaceutical drugs.
Transport within a cold chain is primarily by refrigerated delivery vehicles, often with the items being delivered contained in specialised packaging.
Insulated shipping containers have a wide variety of applications where vulnerable goods must be delivered around the world. Typically, temperature sensitive products such as pharmaceutical substances, blood and vaccines require storage within a narrow temperature range, usually between -2 °C and 8 °C and this for up to 72 hours. Safe transport is critical. If a vaccine is subjected to a temperature above the safe storage range it may render it useless or even potentially harmful.
The challenges
Size, weight, and performance are all critical in design for vehicles:
- Best performance – lowest thermal conductivity at all ambient temperatures
- Smallest volume – lightest weight
- Robust – easily installed
- Dimensionally stable
- Resistant to damage by vibration
- Available in a wide range of sizes
- Capable of being manufactured to close tolerances
- Cost effective solutions for high volume economies in production
Promat can design an "engineered solution" that will meet all these design challenges. Our product portfolio is based on the very best performing insulation products with the lowest thermal conductivity including SLIMVAC®, a "superinsulation" designed for refrigeration applications.
A Promat system is cost effective and cannot be beat on performance.
Promat – thermal performance solutions for refrigerated delivery vehicles
Microtherm SLIMVAC® panels are the perfect insulation system for the construction of refrigerated delivery vehicles. They offer the best performance ensuring minimum insulation thickness. They also offer a working life of many decades in normal use. The use of SLIMVAC® in the construction of cold delivery vehicles maintains the optimum thermal efficiency of the structure while ensuring maximum possible internal storage volume. Because of the very low heat ingress into the vehicles, operating costs for the refrigeration system are kept to an absolute minimum and the cold chain continuity is maintained over long periods of time.
Benefits:
- Best insulation performance with minimum thickness
- Maximum internal storage volume
- Long working life and dependability
- Optimum economies for movement of goods