Everyone understands that certain products need to be kept at a cooler temperature while they are being transported. Ice cream, for instance, cannot travel in a shipping container that is not held at 32 degrees or colder. Produce, some beers and wine, and meat all must be transported under controlled temperatures.
Businesses use refrigerated shipping containers to move their product safely and at the right temperature. But how does a refrigerated shipping trailer work? The system is quite simple and only consists of three major components.
How a Refrigerated Shipping Trailer Operates
The first thing that you must understand is that any refrigeration unit works on a closed system. Having a closed system is essential for maintaining temperature control. The system must be sealed for it to work properly since part of the refrigeration process includes the use of gas.
The cooling unit on a refrigerated shipping trailer contains three major components: The condenser, the compressor, and the evaporator.
The compressor is a small engine that powers the refrigeration unit. The job of the compressor is to take in the refrigerant and compress it into a liquid. While the refrigerant is being compressed into a liquid, the heat is being released. This is one of the reasons that you will feel the heat coming off of the compressor while it is working.
The condenser is the next component of the system. The condenser receives the liquid from the compressor and then cools it by running it through the tubing and cooling it with a fan. This part of the cooling system works very similarly to a car radiator.
The final component of the cooling unit is the evaporator. The evaporator receives the cooled liquid and causes it to evaporate so that it can cool the designated area. The cooling unit on these trailers works similar to the cooling units on your homes.
Cooling a trailer is basically that simple. Refrigerated shipping trailers take other precautions as well to make sure that the cooling system works properly and manages to keep all the product at the same temperature.
Insulation and Airflow
A refrigerated shipping trailer is insulated in a way that when the trailer is cooled, it can maintain the right temperature. Additionally, many of these trailers are specially designed so that the cool air flows throughout the trailer at all times and not just blowing at one end. If the cool air is not circulated through the unit, some of the product may be affected.
If you need to transport or store goods at a controlled temperature, a refrigerated trailer will be your best choice. These containers are perfect for transporting products as well as for using as stand-alone cold storage units for restaurants, stores, and personal hobbies like homebrewing.
