Twenty years of cold chain

Aside from the provincial government's medical freezer project, the Refrigeration Research Institute has only secured one project in the past six months: a constant temperature and humidity cold storage project for a pharmaceutical company. The medical freezer project is currently in its final testing phase, and this cold storage project is seamlessly integrated into the project. It seems that the Refrigeration Research Institute's first year has been completely unrelated to the food cold chain.

This cold storage project was introduced by the Daye Group. Li Zhou wanted to customize an intelligent management and operation system for this company. Having learned about the constant temperature and humidity storage project earlier, he inquired with the Refrigeration Research Institute about their interest.

Faced with such a large project, everyone in the institute agreed that Luan Pingxin was unlikely to take it on. It wasn't about which cold chain system to develop, but rather a matter of cost-effectiveness. It's no exaggeration to say that pharmaceutical cold chain logistics is at the very top of the industry pyramid. Compared to pharmaceutical cold storage, fruit and vegetable storage is undoubtedly more rudimentary; pharmaceutical cold chain logistics integrates many of the most advanced technologies from various industries.

The Refrigeration Research Institute is a business; everyone there relies on sales and order volume for their livelihood. The medical freezer project has already been delayed for six months. If they were to actually build this constant temperature and humidity storage facility, the technical challenges would undoubtedly keep their engineers busy for an extended period. In the eyes of many, venturing into such a project has already deviated from the institute's original purpose.

However, to everyone's astonishment and incomprehension, Luan Pingxin not only took on this huge project, but also reassigned a small number of people to follow up on the medical freezers, while devoting the rest of the staff to cold storage technology. Her demands at the meeting further added to the pressure on everyone.

"Our goal is to maintain the temperature inside the warehouse at 4.5-5.5℃ and the humidity at 55%-65% throughout the year. Our key tasks are, firstly, to develop a constant temperature and humidity unit that matches the enterprise's needs, secondly, to store the cold energy of ethylene glycol refrigerant, and finally, to develop specific numerical plans for the air supply vents and exhaust ducts."

Luan Pingxin spoke eloquently, but everyone's heads were spinning. The values ​​she requested were too exaggerated. A comparison with the values ​​stipulated by national regulations would reveal that the specified values ​​for constant temperature and humidity cold storage of pharmaceuticals are 2-8℃ and 45%-75%.

Allowing only a 1°C temperature fluctuation and a 10% humidity change, this is undoubtedly the ultimate constant temperature and humidity chamber, and if successful, it would be an advanced level in the industry.

Essentially, this topic is about the difference in cooling methods of refrigeration equipment. In the field of food cold storage, almost all of them use direct cooling, which means that cold air is directly delivered into the storage using an evaporator. The cooling speed is fast and the system is relatively simple.

However, due to the special nature of the pharmaceutical industry and the differences in temperature and humidity across the country, the storage quality and safety of medicines have always been subject to extremely stringent standards, including preventing mold, moisture, bacteria, dryness, and static electricity. Therefore, it cannot be stored using simple direct cooling, nor is that a means of achieving constant temperature.

This brings us to another cooling method for refrigeration equipment: indirect cooling. This involves dissipating heat through an intermediate medium. The refrigerant, such as brine or ethylene glycol, is first cooled in the evaporator before being introduced into the cold storage room via water cooling. To use an analogy, one is like a punch, and the other is like a gentle touch; only in this way can true temperature stability be achieved. Central air conditioning operates on the same principle.

So, is it worth it?

The Refrigeration Research Institute not only failed to meet market expectations, but even its own staff felt it had gone astray.

Those present were all technical personnel. Looking at the silent scene, Luan Pingxin showed no intention of comforting them. "I hope everyone will give their all to this project, and be single-minded."

The phrase "single-minded" is particularly valuable at this time. The Refrigeration Research Institute is not an isolated entity; outside voices come in every day. Especially recently, comments like "a silent idiot who doesn't make money" have emerged.

What people find even more incomprehensible is that the powerful Bayer Group has proposed to continue its collaboration with the Refrigeration Research Institute on the Zhengyang Project, a matter that has been repeatedly delayed, and has finally been put back on the agenda. If this compressor project is successful, it will be a comprehensive boost to the Refrigeration Research Institute. Putting aside everything else, the terms of Bayer's sole investment and profit sharing alone are simply too good to pass up.

But no one could guess what Director Luan was thinking. She seemed obsessed with making medical freezers. The provincial department's funding was at most research and development funds, with no real financial gain.

Of course, everyone could see her hard work. She followed up on everything, big and small, and worked in the equipment room late into the night. She divided the team into sub-teams and held special meetings. At her busiest, she could attend four technical discussions a day.

If she could simply change her approach, contacting Zhengyang while simultaneously getting the research institute into the cold chain food market, given the current booming market, she would undoubtedly be rolling in money. But instead of considering these things, she stubbornly insists on pursuing the pharmaceutical cold chain, much like the wise saying, "Direction is more important than effort."

But people have all experienced Luan Pingxin's temper. She either sits down and works wholeheartedly, or if she wants to quit, please be gentle. People are also helpless because as long as Luan Pingxin is in charge, the research and development can continue to move forward. With her strength, no one else is indispensable.

After the meeting, the marketing manager came in again, the folder containing materials that were almost a ton thick.

But after only a few words, the manager left once again, filled with familiar frustration. This was the fifth time in a month that he had heard "another day" mentioned in relation to the marketing department meeting.

The word "market" weighed heavily on Luan Pingxin's heart, causing her a sense of unease. If she were a bus driver, with dozens of passengers in the back shouting "Grassland, Grassland!", she would be driving into a tunnel.

These were all easy to cook, but to her surprise, even Lao Luan, who was far away in Mozi, had objections.

Instead of focusing on his fruit business, he drove to the research institute to berate his daughter.

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.