Importance of a Vapour Barrier in Cold Storage Design By Ramesh Paranjpey Technical Advisor & Consultant, Pune Wy Vapour Barrer for Cold Storage C32 Cold Chain January-March 2010 ability and also considerably adds to refrigeration requirements with increased power consumption Relative Humidity & Absolute Humidity (Humidity Ratio) As the heat flows from a higher tem: perature to a lower temperature, similarly as ‘mentioned above the water vapour migrates from a higher water vapour pressure area to a lower water vapour pressure area. Since ‘moisture ingress is invisible, it is normally ‘overlooked but it can significantly affect the cold room conditions adversely, Inordertounderstandthesephenomena we need to look ata psychrometric chart or some basic air properties. Is a general perception that higher relative humidity means more moisture content, butt is not true. If we look at the properties of ar, as given below, we notice that 5°C & 85% RH, has less moisture content 4.6 gm/kgda as against 40°C & 25%. RH.-11.59gm/kgda Properties of Air In cold storages which operate at much lower temperatures of -20°C or blast freezers operating at ~40°C, there is even a much bigger difference in vapour pressures as can be seen from the table, which becomes a driving force for water vapour to enter the cold storage. We should, therefore, always look at absolute humidity values and not relative humidity if we want to know the actual ‘moisture content in the air to decide on which side the vapour barrier should be installed, In the above mentioned example, the vapour pressure in the outside air would be 13.86 Pa as against inside vapour pressure would be only 5.56 Pa le. less than half and water vapour would therefore try to penetrate through the building construction material or through insulation inside the cold room, Insulation & Vapour Barrier ASHRAE volume 2006 -14.12 states“Pri- ‘mary concer in the design of alow temper ature facility is the vapour retarder system, which should be as close to 100% effective a5 is practical. The success or failure of the insulation envelope is due entirely to the effectiveness of the vapour retarder system in preventing water vapour t Into and through the insulation Providing insulation alone to prevent heat from seeping in is not enough. the insulation envelope must also be impermeable to water vapour in order to prevent the migration of w from the warm ambient environment to the cold space. Failure to prevent this migration of water vapour results in condensation of water on the interior of efrigerated space and formation of ice. | also adds to refrigeration load leading to a higher eneray bill fer vapour About the Author Ramesh Paranjpgy is @ with an MTech in retigerat with over 35 years fe nas worked i very senior positions starting with Kick Peumatc in Pun, Cartier Transicod in Bangalore and Singapore as well as Volts-Air Intemational Pune resent he works for himself asa tecnica advisor & consultant He san ASHAAE Fellow, past president ASHRAE Wl. chapter and past president ISHRAE Pune chapter. He can be contacter wecanical en from iT BombayPerry Poort Temperature | Relative | Absolute Humidity fs Cee eke 0 1159 16 5 46 5356 2 a6 on 0 ors aig Properties of a Additional Refrigeration Requirements & Energy Itis also important to be aware ofthe fact that one kg of dry airto be cooled by one deg C requires ony 1.004 Kl heat whereas to condense 1 kg of water vapourto 1 kg of water we require 2500 larg ie nearly 2500 times more energy and 334KI/kg to convert this condensed water further in to 1 kg of ice, hence nearly 3000 times more energy is required. lt of refrigeration plant capacity is therefore wasted if water vapour is entering in the cold room and getting converted in condensation or in ice formation, Vapour Pressure / Temperature differences Wh & without vapour base Requirements of Good Vapour Barrier In rating the effectiveness of material, two terms, mainly Permeability and Permeance of material need to be understood. Permeability: Permeability reflects the materials ability to allow passage of certain number of grains of moisture (1 grain =1/7000)b) per inch thickness of material per sqft per hour per inch of mercury vapour pressure difference (kg per Pa per sec per 1m isthe property of material per unt thickness. Permeance or perm: It is Permeability divided by the actual thickness of the vapour retarder material. It can be any material Concrete block 8 thick 24 Exterior grade plywood 14" thick 07 Hot melt asphalt 2 oxsqft 05 Reinforced concrete sab 8 thick 04 Polyethylene fm 0.20 mm thick 004 Polyethylene fim 0.25 mm 003 ‘Metal fil-aluminum 00 Fapour sealing for moh that has a water vapour transmission rate less than 1 perm. ‘Although one perm looks very small itis not good enough for, cold storage applications. Recommended vapour retarder perm rating should be 0.01 or finer, provided on the warm side-of the insulation Types of Vapour Retarders Plastic coatings or thin fluids - Examples of materials of this, category are asphalt, bituminous emulsions and polymer resins. ‘These types of vapour retarders are applied on the exterior surface of insulation, usually before the insulation is installed. Sealing sheets -The examples in this category include asphalt, paper, plastic sheets, and metal films. Metal flim like aluminum foil is inexpensive and excellent vapour barrier but is difficult to install and it is impossible to make a fool proof seal without considerable punctures occurring. Aso if applied to walls directly ‘there is possiblity of corrosion as well, Polyethylene installation becomes comparatively easier due to reduced number of joints and overlapping and bonding wherever required. Also polyethylene is quite stretchable before fracture occurs unlike ‘metal fol. This characteristic is highly desirable in a cold storage vapour barrier in order to absorb building movement without rupturelt should be also noted that two thin layers of film are not as good as one thick layer since there are twice as many chances of failure of the vapour bartier and it would require double the labour, seals, and joint overlaps. Prefabricated sandwitch panels - Due to ease of installation, Stel brio Steel enrcing bars (tonal) Me Vapour seating for floor Cold Chain January-March 2010 C33pou Sealing for Wall 1 Foor now 2 days these are predominantly used in the refrigerated facility designs. The external metal surface of the panels acts as vapour retarder. When using prefabricated panels, care should bee taken to ensure continuous and uninterrupted joints between panels and they should be vapour sealed including all joints between wall and ceiling and between wall and floor. These panels should be installed to provide inside surface joints ie. on cold side to be permeable so that in case of vapour leaks it will pass through the joint and not permeate in the core material. The panel joint must also be able to survive the differential movement between two panels and the sealant used must have sufficient elasticity to tolerate this movement without breaking down, Installation Precautions The performance of a cold storage facility is therefore predominantly dependant on how good is the insulation and vapour barrie. Interior Yop Retrder Stem (C34 cold Chain January-March 2010 stern Vapour Retarder Siem It is therefore necessary to provide proper vapour barrier ‘on the warmer side of the walls. Similarly, the inside surface should never be made vapour tight, otherwise moisture that has entered into the insulation though outer walls will remain trapped inside and would spoil the insulation. The inside surface should therefore be made in such a manner that it should be allowed to breathe freely. This will ensure that the moisture that has entered in the insulation, is carried to the cooling apparatus and then subsequently removed while defrosting the coils. This aspect is however mostly overlooked in preference to sanitation of inside surfaces of cold rooms and ease of maintenance. This, however, leads to trapped moisture in the insulation affecting severely the insulating properties of insulation, Its also important to understand that insulating property of the insulation material is mainly due to trapped air bubbles while foaming and not the material itself and hence if these air cavities get filled with moisture the insulating property is nearly lost and, ‘et insulation is therefore no good. If insulation retains moisture, then it also acts as breeding ground for bacteria, fungus growth besides loosing Is insulating properties. theres excessive moisture it may drip on the product ‘and cause contamination of the product. No vapour retarder system would be 100% effective. The properly designed vapour barrier system is the one in which, rate of moisture infiltration, if at allis taking place it should be equal to rate of moisture removal by refrigeration plant without detectable condensation. It is strongly recommended that cold storage owners/ consultants and contractors seriously consider this important aspect of providing proper vapour barrier while designing! and constructing the cold rooms, otherwise a well designed refrigeration plant also may not deliver the desired performance. Itis also extremely important to install the vapour barrier properly with proper overlaps and sealed joints with out any puncture to get a vapour and airtight envelope. Failure of vapour retarder system is almost always a due to poor installation. The insulation contractor must therefore be experienced to ensure a vapour tight construction *