Installing a Cotes dehumidifier in a cold store in Norway proved an exceptionally effective way to virtually eliminate the undesirable presence of ice that seemed to form on every surface, due to the presence of excess moisture in the air.

In addition to making the cold store facility both safer and less arduous a place in which to work, effective humidity management enabled the company to increase the overall efficiency of its production.

This large cold store in Bergen, Norway – owned by Rieber Eiendom – is used for fish storage. Water in large quantities evaporates from the packaged fish during the freezing process.

Moisture means ice
This evaporated water raises the levels of humidity in the building. The large amounts of moisture in the air then condense on the many cold surfaces within the building, and freeze to ice. This results in the continual build-up of ice on the fish, on the walls, on the floor and on the evaporator of the cooling system. This meant that ice, frosted surfaces and slippery concrete floors were an unpleasant feature of day-to-day life for the employees. The build-ups of ice also made it hard to maintain safe, efficient working procedures. The situation was made worse by the fact that the door was often open, allowing additional humid air to enter from outside.

Designed for the job
Installing one relatively small Cotes CR1400TI adsorption dehumidifier tackled all these problems at once. Significantly reducing the levels of moisture in the air made it possible to prevent the formation of ice.

Cotes designs and manufactures numerous dehumidifier models specially designed for use in cold stores. These include the CR800TI, the CR1400TI and the CR3200TI.

Multiple benefits
Within three weeks after installation, the company’s ice problem had been reduced to a minimum. Cotes humidity management technology effectively removed all unwanted moisture from the air and prevented the formation of new ice. It even enabled this cold store operator to get rid of the ice already present, and do away with the practical difficulties this ice caused.

The company was also able to boost both the safety and the efficiency of its production processes, as well as saving on time and costs because less weight had to be moved around.

This installation was carried out in close collaboration with Cotes’ Norwegian distributor, F-Tech.