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Cold stores are one of those important places where an annual shut down for maintenance work is not just a luxury, it is impossible. Frozen food just doesn’t keep fresh for a couple of weeks while the refrigeration system is shut down and a maintenance team carry out the necessary work. As a result, maintenance in cold stores has to be carried out with the minimum down time and without interrupting the normal schedule.
Yet maintenance is often required, and no more so than on the floors. Water, frozen into the porous concrete, expands and causes breakup of the surface. Heavy mechanical traffic, including trucks and trolleys, then accelerate the surface break up, particularly in localized areas such as gangways and near the entrance.
Once the surface is broken, wear accelerates until deep ruts are formed: these prevent the easy, safe movement of stock.
Repair of damaged concrete with more concrete is never satisfactory because the bond between new and old concrete which depends on loss of water from the “wet material” and crystallization is, at best tenuous indeed.
In cold stores, effective repair is made impossible by the low temperature. Under such conditions, the excess water in the new concrete is not released, crystallization does not occur and the result is a weak crumbly repair (which is even less resilient than the concrete it has replaced and which breaks up in a short time, necessitating further repairs.
More and more companies are finding the answer in Belzona 4111 (Magma Quartz). Because the Belzona contains no volatile matter and affects its bond to concrete via reaching into the concrete and forming molecular bonds, it can be used at temperatures approaching freezing. Once applied, and allowed to solidify overnight, Belzona 4111 (Magma Quartz) has been shown to provide a permanent repair thus eliminating the need for further maintenance of the area.
How can we help you maintain your infrastructure?
Stephanie Rumford
srumford@rumfordgroup.com
937-435-4650
RumfordGroup.com
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