Whether shipping perishable food items, flowers, medications or medical supplies, or anything else that requires consistent cold temperatures in shipping containers, gel pack storage provides an excellent solution.

It’s important to learn how to store gel packs to ensure that they effectively keep each shipment safe until it arrives at its destination every time. 

3 Things to Learn About Gel Pack Storage for Cold Product Shipping

Gel packs are small containers, whether a soft pouch or hard-shell plastic, that contain a liquid-to-frozen coolant, phase-change material (PCM), or another refrigerant to keep perishables cool, stable, and ready for use during transport or long-term storage.

Here are three things you should know about gel packaging solutions to ensure you store your temperature-sensitive items safely for transportation or storage.

1. Frozen Solid Gel Packs Aren’t the Optimal Cooling Solution for Pharmaceuticals 

Frozen gel packs are leak-proof polyethylene bags filled with polymer-based cooling gel that can be removed from the freezer and added to a passive shipping container environment. Properly frozen, gel packs can maintain a temperature of around 32 degrees Fahrenheit for several hours. 

One caveat for using frozen gel packs applies to biologics, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines, which require far more stabilized temperatures. 

2. There Are Several Types of Cold Gel Packs

As noted earlier, several options are available to you when exploring cold storage. Here are a few of those options: 

• Ice Bricks. You’ve probably seen or used these packets in coolers for barbecues. Made of hard-shelled, non-toxic, food-grade, and leak-proof plastic, you can use these bricks on a much larger scale to ship perishable food items, keeping them cold for a few days. The commercial-grade versions of these bricks offer more control to keep perishables at constant temperatures for uniform cooling and preventing any thawing. 
• Puncture-Resistant pouches. These pouches are another familiar, daily use format and material for cold packs that are also crucial to commercial cold storage.
• Form-Fitting Cooling Packs. Form-fitting cooling solutions allow you to modify your packs to suit the space where you plan to use them. At around 1.5 inches, they are twice as thick as regular gel packs, these units are also segmented and flexible, allowing you to work with them, so they conform to your allotted space. 

3. Know How Long Your Gel Pack Will Last in Your Container Unit

To ensure consistent temperature control, you need to know the capabilities of your selected gel packs. If you plan to use a container without refrigeration or temperature control, leaving the unit at room temperature or warmer, you might have three or four hours at most. However, if you choose a container with temperature control, you could easily stretch that timeframe to six days or 144 hours.   

Consider Investing in a Modified Shipping Container to Support Your Cold Storage Needs

While gel packs will accomplish your needs, you might think they ultimately cost more and are less efficient than relying on a refrigerated shipping container that you can modify to accommodate your cooling and other needs, whether buying or renting. 

 

Contact our team today for more information on refrigerated containers.  Portable Refrigeration storage is ready to help you make the right decision for your refrigeration needs.