COLD STORAGE FOR APPLES AXD PEARS 



45 



Slotted Floors 



To avoid high stacking, rooms with low ceilings and a slotted floor 

 between the first and second levels are occasionally constructed to be 

 refrigerated from a system of ducts at the ceiling of the upper room. 

 This is not a satisfactory arrangement for uniform temperatures. A 

 controlled air movement cannot be directed through all parts of both 

 rooms. Where the less perishable fruits are being stored, this low- 

 cost type of construction may prove satisfactory, if care is taken not 

 to store warm fruit in the lower floor beneath the fruit that has al- 

 ready been cooled. A system of reversed air circulation is recom- 

 mended for this design, with provision for leaving unoccupied space 

 beneath the air ducts on the upper floor. 



_ ,■ ■ ■ : ■ *— — # ' - : .■■■■■■■■^^ 



Figure 16. — Insulated ceiling raised 4 inches above lower edges of joists, to allow 

 air to circulate over girders. Where the direction of air flow between ducts 

 is transverse to girders, this is important to prevent pockets of stagnant air 

 and higher temperatures in bays near the ceiling. 



Handling Equipment 



In laying out the building it is important to consider the equipment 

 to be used for handling the fruit. Where fruit is packaged in small 

 containers, the belt system is largely used for receiving it and for 

 transferring it from cold-storage rooms to packing room and return 

 and from the cold-storage rooms to delivery platform or railway car. 

 The belt system of conveyor has proved economical in labor costs and 

 permits the use of receiving and delivery ports such as that illustrated 

 in figure 9 instead of doors. The lay-out of aisles and doors or ports, 

 as well as the shape and arrangement of the rooms, should be de- 



