05
PLUMBING SYSTEM GUIDELINES
The forced-air evaporative cooling chamber detailed in these documents is designed for the storage of fruits and vegetables. Cool air is created in these chambers using the principle of evaporative cooling, where water evaporating from a wet pad reduces the temperature and increases the humidity of the air passing through the pad.
Because the air flowing through the chamber is both cool and humid, this chamber is only suitable for storing produce that can effectively be stored in humid environments; agricultural products like cereal grains and onions will rot in the humid conditions present in these chambers and should be stored using other methods.
This section covers the plumbing system for the forced-air evaporative cooling chamber.
The system is designed to control the delivery of water over the evaporative cooling pads.
The key components needed for the plumbing system are:
-
A lower water tank as a reservoir
-
An upper tank to supply water to the cooling pads
-
A submersible water pump to deliver water from the lower tank to the upper tank
-
Electrically activated solenoid values to regulate water flow from the upper tank into the cooling pads
-
Evaporative cooling pads
-
Water collection and return to the lower water reservoir
-
PVC pipe, hose, and fitting to connect the other components
In this document we have a diagram showing the water flow, recirculating from the tanks to the evaporative cooling pads.
