Title of Invention

COLD STORAGE

Abstract

The invention relates to a cold storage system comprising a stationery unit and a transportable unit wherein the said stationery unit is an insulated housing with puffed thermal insulation material forming a storage chamber having an opening, and is provided with a door to open and close said storage chamber at the front side, an air curtain provided above the door to prevent in filtration of dust, , three transparent see-through curtains provided next to the said door such that the middle curtain is parallel to the said door and the other two curtains are connected to each end of the middle curtain opposing each other and parallel to side walls dividing the housing into three portions, plurality of panels of HDPE inside covering the upper side of the storage chamber; a cold room controller and plurality of cooling units and a line conditioner unit

Full Text

COLD STORAGE SYSTEM FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to cold storage system having two units-big and small with phase change material for preserving the green vegetable, Potatoes, sweets, ice creams, chocolates, meat, drinks and fruits in their natural form without the loss of nutritive values and for storing foodstuffs and other perishables. Other applications of the invention include storage of chemicals and medical or biological specimens. The small unit is suitable for transportation of these materials from one place to the other. The cold storage system has been developed as a solution for stationary and transportation storage. The system can maintain the required temperature suitable for perishable for defined backup period using various type of PCM. The static cold storage unit also has a provision of R.O. system to provide cool drinking water. The static cold storage device is a self support system if used with solar panels. The temperature inside storage units is maintained using DC powered cooling system and phase change material. The units are particularly useful in maintaining crop quality and appearance. The system also reduces weight loss of the fresh crop due to long storage and maintains the crop quality. The system is suitable for wide variety of fruits, vegetables, Meat, Medicines etc. The static cold storage unit is also provided with water tank with small pump for Cleaning/Washing of produce at site. R.O. System for drinking water PRIOR ART India is the world's second largest producer of fruits and vegetables but only 2-4% is commercially processed. It is estimated that the total wastage of the agricultural produce in India is Rs-50,000 crore and wastage of fruits and vegetables is 25-30%.There is need to adopt technology specially for fruits and vegetables to create scientific storage to reduce wastage and develop infrastructure of cold chain. Development of processed food industry will facilitate timely marketing of food products thereby minimizing the wastage. The principal reason for storing foodstuffs in refrigerated conditions is to retard their degradation through microbial action or physiological or chemical changes, so that their shelf-life is extended for as long as possible. In order optimally to extend shelf-life through refrigeration, several factors must be considered; for example, the most suitable temperature for storing the foodstuff. In addition, some foodstuffs degrade quickly under the attack of virulent microbes that are readily circulated to other foodstuffs stored nearby, causing cross-contamination. Presently traditional cooling is provided using various devices like air conditioner, refrigeration unit. Whenever there is power failure the backup power like Diesel Gensets (DG) start to supply power to cooling the chamber to maintain the temperature. It becomes very critical if DG does not start or cooling device fails and not possible to repair within the time frame. Mostly the traditional cold storage devices are insulated chamber/ room/ container with refrigeration to maintain the desired temperature as per stored item. The refrigeration works with humidifier to maintain the temperature & humidity. To maintain the environment all the time, the refrigeration unit has to run continuously, so there is redundant unit of refrigeration to take care of any failure and same way the redundant power supply to take care of power failure. For the transportation unit, the same arrangement is made using redundant refrigeration and power is fed thru separate power source or refrigeration unit driven directly through the prime mover engine. The transportation of perishable goods is also done in container and container is kept in controlled environment. The normal the cold storage devices structure is made of PL) sandwich panels with steel/ Al as inner / outer skin. The bigger cold storage devices also made of brick wall with air or other insulation material as insulation. The cold storage devices refrigeration power is fed thru the electromechanical regulator to take care of input power variation. U.S. patent no. 6915657 describes a cold-storage appliance comprising an open-topped insulating container defining an external surface, an insulating lid adapted to close the open top of the container, a cooling means adapted to cool the interior but not the exterior of the container, and a structure supporting the container, the lid and the cooling means. In accordance with the invention, the container is mounted to the structure for movement relative to the structure and the lid to open the container and afford access to its interior or to close the container, and at least a majority of the external surface of the container is exposed to ambient air when the container is closed by the lid. U.S. patent no. 6938436 describes a thermal energy storage container which includes a first panel having a container attachment element located around a periphery thereof. The container attachment element is adapted to engage a complementary lid attachment element. The thermal energy storage container includes a container compartment adapted to store a thermal energy storage material. A thermal energy storage lid which includes a lid attachment element located around a periphery thereof. The lid attachment element is adapted to engage a complementary container attachment element. U.S. patent no. 6655760 describes a stationary cold storage which improves a door insulating performance, and which is preferable particularly for low-temperature insulation of chemicals, and the like. A low-temperature insulating showcase is formed by openably closing a storage chamber opening constituted in an insulation box by a door, the door is constituted of a transparent panel and a see-through composite layer glass, and a panel is detachably attached to the storage chamber side of the composite layer glass. The traditional systems have many disadvantages as follows: 1. Dependent on Power -Traditional cooling system work continuously to maintain permitted temperature. The problem arises once the power is not available or cooling systems fails. The user has to immediately arrange backup power or cooling system to protect internal item otherwise they will fail. To ensure this the alternative backup DG power and alternative cooling system has to be present. 2. High Running Cost -To maintain the temperature during power failure, hence DG running, operational cost becomes very high because of diesel consumption and frequent DG maintenance. Sometimes it becomes higher than the stored item cost and defeats the purpose of storage itself. This is the reason, for not having enough cold storage devices economically viable. 3.High Transportation Cost - For transporting perishable item, the refrigerated van or refrigerated vessels are used. There are times; the transportation cost of refrigerated van cum container becomes higher than the cost of stored item. This problem creates hurdle for transporting various vegetables or fruits, from one part of the country to other part. Despite of one part have a deficit and one part have surplus. 4.Risk Factor - There is a huge risk of perishable getting damage, in case of alternate power source or redundant refrigeration getting failed, because of their mechanical and moving part in nature. 5. Higher Solar Gain - The normal cold storage structure is made of PU sandwich panels with steel/Al as inner/ outer skin. During summer, once outer skin gets heated because of direct sun light, the heat transfer increases because of temperature difference of outer and inner skin, results more refrigeration running and hence operational cost. 6. High maintenance - The cold storage refrigeration is most vulnerable to the power fluctuation and most of the time electromechanically power regulator does not work fast enough, hence refrigerator system damaged frequently specially in rural areas. The electromechanical regulator needs frequent maintenance. There exists a need to develop eco-friendly, non polluting solutions for agricultural sector to help farmers. It is a primary objective of the present invention to save the energy by providing better isolation under severe condition of negative temperature using FRP (fiber glass reinforced plastic) as an outer skin, food grade SS material as inner skin sandwiched with PUF of desired thickness. The other object of the invention to provide a system which has lower solar gain, lower operational and transportation cost. Another object of the invention to provide a system which lowers the national agriculture wastage. Yet another object of the invention to provide a system which provides germ free water to the villager by integrating R.O. system. The main embodiment of the invention resides in that the static cold storage unit utilizes phase change material (PCM). The PCM absorbs the cool energy once power is available and refrigeration cycle is running. It works as a thermal storage device to provide healthy temperature conditions inside static cold storage unit by providing Thermal Backup System for desired time period, specially in the areas where power is hardly available for a long time period. The mass of the PCM is selected by calculating latent heat storage capacity of a specific PCM per kilogram. During thermal backup no air conditioner and DG are needed. The specific threshold temperature of PCM can be varied as per site load and condition. The present invention of static cold storage unit not only is capable of providing better thermal insulation by reducing the temperature difference using poor thermal conductor material as outer skin, but at the same time the outer skin material maintains the strength required. The system can be operated by the solar panel where electricity is not available. The present invention provides the facility of air conditioning at battery bank during power outage. Self temperature conditioning system, power management system, highly efficient chiller system. The system has low capacity DG requirement and less DG running. A line conditioner unit is provided in the static cold storage device to regulate mains input voltage for all kind of load inductive, capacitive, and resistive without interruption in output waveform. This unit is used to utilize the power regulation efficiently with fast correction even under extreme low voltage conditions which servo technology is not able to offer due to its slow response. Accordingly the present invention relates to a cold storage system comprising: a static unit, a transportable unit, wherein the said static unit is an insulated housing with puffed thermal insulation material forming a storage chamber having an opening, and is provided with a door to open and close said storage chamber at the front side, an air curtain provided above the door to prevent in filtration of dust, a flooring made of Aluminium checkered plate, three transparent see-through curtains provided next to the said door such that the middle curtain is parallel to the said door and the other two curtains are connected to each end of the middle curtain opposing each other and parallel to side walls dividing the housing into three portions, plurality of panels of HOPE material fixed on the brackets hanging from the top roof of the housing on the inside covering the upper side of the storage chamber; a cold room controller and plurality of cooling units fixed on the rear wall, a line conditioner unit connected to the said cold room controller, a humidifier, an RO system connected to side wall with a water pipe connecting the water tank BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS: FIG. 1 shows the diagrammatic view of static cold storage unit. FIG. 2 shows the cooling reference system of static cold storage unit. FIG. 3 shows front sectional view of static cold storage unit. FIG. 4 shows top sectional view of static cold storage unit. FIG. 5 shows the isometric views of transportable cold storage unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION: The system has two units- one is bigger and static cold storage unit and the other is smaller and transportable unit. The chamber of static cold storage unit creates safe and high quality storage condition for temperature controlled perishable goods such as frozen meats, Icecreams, dairy produces, fresh fruits and green vegetables etc. The static cold storage unit is prefabricated with FRP-GI sheet with PUFF filled. FRP/GI is the outer skin for better thermal isolation and Inner sheet is of food grade SS material. This is the energy saving static cold storage system. Flexible dimensions are used for different combination. The cold storage system uses PCMs - 40 to + 15 Deg Gel, various type of PCM to maintain the temperature during power failure or refrigeration failure. The desired temperature is selected as per the perishable items stored in, and the time as per user need to be able to arrange alternated refrigeration or power source. The PCM is stored in small bottles (18) as shown in fig. 5(1) in the small unit. These bottles are lined up around the insulating crates (19) as shown in fig. 5(2) which are portable and can be arranged horizontally and vertically in the insulating box (20) or small cold storage unit as shown in the Fig. 5(4). The insulating box (2) is then closed and sealed with nuts, bolts and flashings (21). The small insulating box is ready for transportation as shown in fig 5(4). In static cold storage unit the PCM panels are arranged in the brackets which hang from the roof of the cold storage device. To reduce the solar gain the outside surface is selected a bad conductor material like FRP / Composite material or steel with Ultra Cool High Reflectivity Paint. The FRP temperature does not rise much beyond ambient during direct sun rays, because of bad conductor, that reduces the temperature difference between outer and inner skin, hence reduces solar gain. The alternate solution also devised using steel with coating of High Reflective Paint, which reflects the IR portion of the light, hence lower rise temperature in outer skin, which reduces again solar gain. The refrigeration in static cold storage device works to maintain desired temperature, when the power is available which preserve the perishable and same time charges the PCM. Whenever there is power failure, PCM provides backup as per quantity installed. If the backup is exhausted and room temperature starts rising, the temperature sensor inside the cold room controller provide signal to DG to start, the whole concept is designated as PCM - DG Management Circuitry. There is some percentage of PCM provided extra in cold storage unit to be used for transportation of perishable from bigger cold storage unit to different locations. The additional charged PCM taken out from the stationery cold storage unit and put in the small bottles along with perishable item in the crates. The whole unit is sealed and transported without need of refrigeration van, vessel or container. The PCM maintains the inside temperature for defined period of time, selected as per PCM quantity. The static cold storage unit has got automatic humidifier to maintain the humidity along with refrigeration, controlled by common controller. The static cold storage unit is powered by static line conditioner unit, which provides the regulated power in safe range during abrupt variation in mains. As shown in FIG. 1 the main body (1) of the static cold storage unit is constituted with insulated housing forming the storage chamber. The unit has RO system (2) at one end which is connected to the water tank (3) with a water pipe to provide germ free drinking water to the user. As shown in Fig 3 the front face of the opening of the stationery cold storage unit is through a door (4) with a latch (5). An air curtain (6)is places above the door to prevent in filtration of dust. The flooring (7) of the storage chamber is made of Aluminium checkered plate. Three transparent see-through curtains (not shown) are provided next to the said door (4) such that the middle curtain is parallel to the said door (4) and the other two curtains are adjacent to each end of the middle curtain opposing each other and parallel to side walls dividing the housing into three portions. A number of panels (7A) of HOPE material are fixed on the brackets (8) hanging from the top roof of the housing on the inside covering the upper side of the storage chamber. The HOPE panels are connected to each other by tongue and groove method. Fig 4 shows the top view. The refrigeration units (9,10) are fixed on the rear wall (11) of the housing. The refrigeration units are divided into two sections Indoor unit (12) and outdoor unit (13). As shown in Fig. 2 the outdoor unit (12) of the refrigeration has compressor (13), condensation coil (14) and fan while the evaporation coil (15) and blowers form a part of the indoor unit (13). This is to throw the cool air inside the storage chamber to maintain the desired temperature in the chamber. Both the units are connected through refrigeration Lines and standard items which are supplied along with the system for Field Installation. These standard parts are: • Thermodynamic Expansion Valve • Solenoid Valve • Temperature control • Sight Glass • Drier • Service valves • Pressure control • Crankcase Heater (optional) • Time clock for low temp. Application ( optional) • Low Ambient Control (optional) • Weather Proof Housing for outdoor units (Can be covered in Design of OUTDOOR UNIT) • Power Cables to connect both units. A cold room controller (16) is also fixed at the rear wall to control the temperature inside the storage chamber. A line conditioner unit (17) connected to the said cold room controller is kept outside the housing. Static cold storage system has been designed and developed with Thermal Backup System (TBS) to store the produce/ product for long time at certain temperature when there is no electricity. Line conditioner unit of required rating is used for better utilization of electrical power even at extremely low condition. The system has been designed with Thermal backup period of 12Hrs, 24Hrs, 48Hrs. Inside Temperature Range - 40 to +15 deg C with compatible Thermal Backup System. Emergency Mobile DG Socket is provided. Secured Door Lock and buzzer/ hooter alarm is also provided incase of theft. Better joint sealing of panels specially at corners & door, thus improving overall operation efficiency. The cold storage system integrates small lockers to preserve foods, milk, and vaccine. The cold storage unit can be integrated with electronic weighing machine and cold storage solution management system (CSSMS). The CSSMS communicates to the central place for all their stored items available.This way the central place can monitor thousands of cold storage units at various place and their stored items. It will order any needed item thru CSSMS to the particular cold storage unit and they transport the material in small structure in maintained temperature, without using refrigerated van. The CSSMS provides virtual platform for nationwide accounting and storage network for perishable management. WE CLAIM: 1. A cold storage system comprising: a housing with puffed thermal insulation material forming a storage chamber comprising; a. plurality of HDPE panels filled with PCM, fixed to brackets, wherein the brackets hanging from the top roof of the housing, covering the upper side of the storage chamber, b. a controller and plurality of cooling units fixed on the rear wall, c. a line conditioner unit connected to said controller, d. a transportable unit, e. a door to access said storage chamber at its front side, f. an air curtain provided above the door to prevent infiltration of dust, g. a flooring made of aluminum checkered plate, h. at least three transparent curtains provided next to said door such that the middle curtain is parallel to the door and the other two curtains are connected to each end of the middle curtain opposing each other and parallel to side walls, dividing the housing into three portions, i. at least one humidifier; and j. an reverse osmosis system. 2. A cold storage system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the outer skin of said thermal insulation material is Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic and inner skin is made of food grade SS material. 3. A cold storage system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the phase change material is in the range of -40 deg C to 15 deg C. 4. A cold storage system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cooling unit is conventional cooling unit. 5. A cold storage system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said transportable unit is an insulated puffed box having plurality of crates arranged both vertically and horizontally wherein the crates are lined with bottles filled with PCM. 6. A cold storage system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said curtains are made of PVC. 7. A cold storage system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said curtains are connected to each end of the middle curtain at the angle of 90°. 8. A cold storage system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said panels are connected to each other by tongue and groove method.

Documents:

202-del-2005-1-Petition Others-(23-08-2012).pdf

202-del-2005-abstract.pdf

202-del-2005-claims.pdf

202-del-2005-correspondence-po.pdf

202-del-2005-description (complete).pdf

202-del-2005-description (provisional).pdf

202-del-2005-drawings.pdf

202-del-2005-form-1.pdf

202-del-2005-form-13.pdf

202-del-2005-form-18.pdf

202-del-2005-form-2.pdf

202-del-2005-form-26.pdf

202-del-2005-form-3.pdf

202-del-2005-form-5.pdf

202-del-2005-form-9.pdf

202-del-2005-Petition Others-(23-08-2012).pdf