Ultra. Cold. Storage. Three words, many more use cases

One look inside a refrigerated truck or household freezer is enough to know its purpose: keeping certain items in pristine condition. But then there are those items that need to be kept really cold. Ultra-cold in fact, with temperatures reaching -70°C to rival some of the coldest places on Earth.

Besides extremely low temperatures, the biggest difference between an ultra-cold freezer and a common freezer is how its applied by different industries across the globe.

Ultra-cold in the fishing industry

The basics of storing fish is aimed (understandably) at maintaining texture, color, and taste. Properly storing raw fish can be challenging, as fish typically contains around 70% of water, which when frozen in standard freezers (around -18°C) can impact the quality of the fish:

• The water molecules inside the flesh turn into crystals
• When this process takes time, crystals can form together into larger crystals
• Such large crystals can often puncture the cells of the flesh, turning it to liquid once defrosted

This can be prevented by using ultra-low Cold Storage Solutions. By storing the seafood below the eutectic point (-62°C), these fish can essentially be ‘flash frozen’ to minimize the crystallization process and the extreme cold also helps prevent browning and alkalization of fish such as tuna, swordfish, lobster, and salmon. Better still, the mobility of this container-based technology enables it to be deployed on boats and at shore – with outfitting easily completed for specific fish types and temperature ranges.

Preventing decay in biosciences

Freezing items to avoid damage is taken to the next level in biosciences. Here, maintaining extremely low temperatures with precision and stability is vital for storing biosamples such as proteins – which can quickly become ruined at normal temperatures.

Besides storing biosamples, there are different ways in which Cold Storage Solutions can be used in the pharmaceutical industry:

• Prevent damage to biological samples such as cells and tissues by, again, preventing those unwanted ice-crystals from forming
• Maintain the condition of products such as blood and stem cells at maximum capacity through long-term storage
• Support the roll-out of mRNA and Covid-19 vaccines by protecting the heat-sensitive biomolecules contained within

Endurance testing in research and development

Temperature testing at extreme conditions is also a common procedure for R&D engineers. It’s here that components (batteries, electronics, rubber, plastics, fiber-optic cables etc.) are evaluated for reliability, including sudden and extreme variations testing (thermal shock).

For example, products can be subjected to tests for brittleness. This involves their storage at extremely low temperatures to see if they then crack or break when used. A testing processes that can frequently demand prolonged periods of deep freeze on demand.

Much of this testing is conducted at specialist facilities. Where Thermo King’s Cold Storage Solutions enter the picture is in:

• Providing storage facilities to support and expand existing capabilities to meet fluctuating demand
• Enabling components to be transported via multi-modal long-distance routes at ultra-low temperatures
• Delivering mobile, tailored storage facilities to support more ad hoc testing at a variety of locations

Find your ideal ultra-cold solution

There are many examples where the cold chain is being asked to get colder. In each instance, the one constant is a need for highly accurate, ultra-low temperature settings delivered in the most flexible and adaptable way possible.

This is the core design principle behind Thermo King Cold Storage Solutions. So whatever the cargo, location, or operational scenario, you can always be confident of accessing highly dependable and configurable cold storage that’s built to last. To discover more, why not take a closer look at Cold Storage Solutions?