Why Does Produce Lose Weight in Cold Storage?
The cooler's evaporator takes moisture out of the room; in dry air fruit, vegetables and meat lose water from the surface and weight loss grows. We cover holding humidity in the range the produce needs, balanced and without wetting it.
In this video
- The evaporator surface is colder than the room air; the air leaves its moisture as condensate and frost and relative humidity drops.
- After harvest, fruit and vegetables keep giving off water; in dry air the loss speeds up.
- Lost water is lost weight; for produce sold by the kilo it is lost revenue. The same applies to meat and carcasses.
- Uncontrolled humidity is also a risk: condensation on the produce raises the risk of mould and rot.
- Moisture must be added without wetting the produce: high pressure mist evaporates in the air, steam humidifiers boil the water.
More from this series
Selecting an industrial dehumidifier starts with an accurate moisture load calculation.
We usually judge indoor comfort by temperature alone, yet relative humidity shapes our health, productivity and the life of the building just as much.
There are three main technologies for industrial dehumidification: desiccant rotor, condensing and pool units.
Selecting an industrial dehumidifier is never just a single capacity figure.
In winter, heated indoor air can drop below 15% relative humidity.
In an indoor pool, the heated water surface evaporates all day; this evaporation cannot be prevented, only controlled.
More videos
The AD series are silica gel rotor industrial dehumidifiers that run continuously in production areas and warehouses where low humidity is needed.
How well an AD series silica gel rotor dehumidifier performs on site depends on the checks made at first start-up and on correctly set airflows.
AD series silica gel rotor dehumidifiers depend on regular maintenance to run efficiently.