Cold Box Pallet Shipper 5-Part Thermal Testing Results by Modality Solutions

In a recent evaluation by Modality Solutions, our Cold Box active pallet shipper was thermally tested at an independent thermal laboratory. Cold Box Express provided a palletized testing fixture allowing for the consistent placement of Temptales and mock payloads. A complete IQ/OQ package was prepared and the summary performance test report describes the thermal performance testing of an active Cold Box pallet shipper for use in an LTL trucking environment for the shipment of temperature labile product.   This rigorous 5-part Thermal Validation protocol consisted of:

1. AUTONOMOUS OR BATTERY OPERATION; HOT PROFILE – With a fully charged battery, the pallet shipper was programmed to a set point of 5°C and placed in a thermal chamber where it was exposed to the ISTA 7EHOT profile, where the Cold Box demonstrated the capability to maintain all points within 3°C of set point throughout the payload volume for 103 hours.

2. AUTONOMOUS OR BATTERY OPERATION; COLD PROFILE – With a fully charged battery, the pallet shipper was programmed to a set point of 5°C and placed in a thermal chamber where it was exposed to the ISTA 7ECOLD profile. The Cold Box demonstrated the capability to maintain all points within 3°C of set point throughout the payload volume for the entire test.

3. BATTERY RE-CHARGE TEST – With a fully depleted battery, the pallet shipper was connected to power and the percent charge was recorded every hour. Charging and preconditioning should be done connected to line power as stated in the operations manual. The battery indicator provides reliable information during discharging. The batteries should be charged for at least 12 hours to ensure a complete charge.

4. HOT LIMIT TEST – With a fully charged battery and connected to external power, the set point of the pallet shipper set to -20°C and was then subjected to a series of hot exposures in order to determine the capability to maintain set point temperatures. All points within the Cold Box were within 5°C of the set point with a bias towards -15°C.

5. COLD LIMIT TEST – With a fully charged battery and connected to external power, the set point of the pallet shipper was set to +20°C and was then subjected to a series of cold exposures in order to determine the capability to maintain set point temperatures. All points within the Cold Box were within 2.5°C of set point with no bias. The Cold Box maintained temperatures during the entire test.

In all of the stress tests above, the studies were conducted to show that the Cold Box is capable of maintaining a range of temperature set points in both HOT and COLD controlled test chamber environments, depending on product requirements for at least four days without need for re-charging. Payload for these tests consisted of empty corrugated boxes. These empty corrugated boxes represent a minimal cube capacity for the shipper as well as a negligible thermal mass and therefore challenged the ability of the Cold Box to maintain uniform temperatures within the product payload area.

The Cold Box pallet shipper is now ready for your high value validated controlled room temperature, refrigerated to freezer temperature controlled transport requirements providing an alternative that is competitive with if not superior to traditional dedicated refrigerated or reefer trucking, dry ice pallet shippers, and other passive pallet shippers.

To read the Cold Box pallet shipper Performance Thermal Test Summary Report by Modality Solutions, please click here. (http://thecoldbox.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Cold-Box-Express-Modality-Validation-Summary.pdf)