How to choose a cold storage panel

Cold storage panel is an important material for building cold storage, and the warehouse body of cold room is composed of these plates spliced together. The choice of cold storage panels is not only related to the final cost of building a cold storage, but also to the service life and operating costs.

The unit weight of the cold storage panels is an important indicator to measure its quality. In general the heavier the unit weight of the panel, the better its quality. Many factors such as material density, steel plate thickness, and panel type will affect the unit weight.

Material density

Cold storage panel is essentially a kind of sandwich panel. The panel is composed of two metal panels and polyurethane foam as the filling core material. Since polyurethane is the main material of panel, the quality of the foam directly affects panel`s performance. Generally speaking, the foaming density of polyurethane materials of panels is 35-43 kg per cubic meter.

If the foaming density is too high, the thermal insulation effect of panel will decrease due to the increase in thermal conductivity. If it is too low, it will also weaken the structural strength of the plate. The density of 35-43 kg per cubic meter, taking into account the structural strength and thermal insulation performance, is the “golden ratio”.

Steel plate thickness

The metal sheet is the “bone” of the cold storage panel. The thickness of the panel directly determines the panel`s weight. At present, the thickness of the metal panels of panels on the market is between 0.4-0.8 mm. Once the thickness of the panel is less than 0.4 mm, the structural strength will be weakened. The anti-corrosion and impact resistance of the sheet will also be weakened. And the comprehensive service life of the cold storage will be shortened.

For example, for a 500 cubic meter cold storage, if 0.5 mm thick steel plates are used, the weight of each cubic meter of panels will increase by 2-3 kg. However, the carrying capacity and service life of cold storage have also been improved, and the overall cost is lower.

Type of panels

For cold storage with different refrigeration requirements, the thickness of the cold storage panels used is different. The lower the cooling temperature, the thicker the panel. For example, when we build 1,000 cubic meters cold storage with a temperature of -25℃, we generally use 150 mm thick polyurethane panels. The weight per cubic meter is about 45 kg. If we replace it with 100 mm thick panels, although part of the construction cost will be saved. However, because the 100 mm thick sheet has low thermal insulation performance, long-term work of refrigeration equipment is required. This instead increases the cost of energy use and equipment loss.

In addition, if the cold storage is required to have a certain moisture-proof or fire-proof function, the weight of the cold storage board will also increase. For example, the general standard of cold storage boards for medical or chemical cold storage requires a fireproof layer. Manufacturers need to design a separate fireproof layer for panels, which will increase the unit weight of the board by 5-10 %. But this is for better safety effects and is essential.

Harbin Dong`an Building Sheets Company is a leading manufacturer of cold storage boards in China. Based on nearly 20 years of design and production experience, Dongan products are ideal for building cold storage.