Case Studies

Rayleigh Cold Store

Location: Rayleigh

Contract Length: 2 weeks

Services: Thermal insulation

Rayleigh Cold store is a wholesale meat distribution business owned by Houlten Meats. The site is a storage warehouse with built in industrial freezers full of racking systems to store the frozen carcasses at a maximum temperature of - 18° C. There is a lot of fork lift truck movements as well as foot traffic, especially when loading and unloading lorries, often during the early hours.        

Problem –

The pipework which runs above the freezers was running at a temperature of - 34° C. Because the pipework was not insulated correctly this was causing a build-up ice. In the summer months the temperature within the roof void, where the pipework runs, was regularly reaching 40° C. As a result of this, the outer layer of ice was constantly melting before being continually reproduced from the moisture within the air. This meant there was a constant flow of water over the top of the freezers, as well as at ground level around the base of the freezers. This was becoming a health and safety issue, as at times this water was re-freezing making the whole area dangerous for any normal activity and difficult for any maintenance to be carried out. 

Solution -  

After a site survey we advised our client of the correct thermal insulation and procedure.  The original ineffective insulation was removed, and the pipework cleaned by our client.  We then commenced with installation of double layer 30mm phenolic thermal insulation to the pipework. Each layer was fully taped, and vapour sealed with staggered seams. The whole system was then covered with black venture clad which has a high emissivity, this allowed us to keep the thickness of the insulation to a minimum for cost saving, whilst still achieving the required outcome for these specific conditions.