INTRODUCTION

Corrugated Kraft Paper Board Box, technically called Corrugated Fibre Board Box is the most
popular shipping container, now-a-days. The box is manufactured from corrugated board which
consists of 3 or more layers of craft paper. The middle-fluted layer is pasted with two flat parallel
sheets of paper. The boxes find their number of applications in the packaging of chemicals &
drugs, tobacco, engineering goods, canned & bottled goods, food products, lamps, electrical
appliances, glassware’s etc.

Packaging plays a very important role in the country's economy. Till recently only the
western world, more particularly the developed countries cared about proper packaging.
However, now even developing countries like India have changed their outlook towards
packaging and in the last few years increasing stress has been laid on improved and proper
packaging. In fact, today, packaging is as important as the contents.

Corrugated boards were first produced in India in early fifties. Since then the
production of Corrugated boards has increased steadily. Corrugated boxes have replaced wooden
boxes & crates in many applications. Today, about 80% of all shipments in the world are being
made in fibre board boxes. In India, about 60% of the packaging is being done with corrugated
fibre board boxes.
CORRUGATED BOARD

Corrugated fibre board consists of a flat layer of paper sheet (liner) glued on one or both sides of
a corrugated paper (medium). The corrugated board is made by passing two layers of paper
(usually craft) through corrugating machine. One layer of paper becomes corrugated after being
passed through' the heated rolls and other is brought into contact with it after the former having
glued at tips.

The corrugating 'medium' is generally made from a 0.009" thick (9 calliper) or 0.23 mm. The
glue frequently used is starch or silicate of soda adhesive. When only one liner is used, the
product is known as "Single face" or "two ply" board. This board is flexible in one direction.
When the corrugated medium is combined on both sides with flat sheets, it is known as double
faced or "3-ply board".

Advantages of Corrugated Fibre Board Boxes

Corrugated fibreboard boxes have replaced the wooden and tin containers due to their several
advantages for safe transportation of the goods. These are discussed here under: -

1. Light in weight (freight advantage)

2. Cellular structure with high compressive strength, resiliency & shock resistance. Assured
safety to delicate articles.

3. Can be stored conveniently infolded condition when not in use, thus saving storage
space advantage

4. By lining, lamination or coating, they can be made water resistant and resistant to other
adverse conditions.

5. Easy to fabricate.

6. Contents packed in these boxes remain dust free.

7. Available throughout the year.

 8. Expedites production due to one-line conveyor packing.

9. Re-usable

10.No strapping necessary

11.Desired in export market

12.Eliminated dependency on natural wood.

APPLICATIONS

Corrugated fibre board boxes are being used for the packing of industrial as well as
consumer goods. They are used for packing of chemicals, drugs, tobacco,
engineering goods, canned and bottled goods (such as Whisky, Beer, Soda,
Drinking Water, Ketchups etc.), food, electrical appliances, confectionary, textiles,
fruits, vegetables, potteries, footwear, glassware’s and other fragile items, medical
instruments, photographic equipment’s and a number of other products. Some of the
products where corrugated fibreboard boxes find extensive application are:-

 Pharmaceuticals.

 Glassware, Crockery Ware

 Soaps & Cosmetics

 Biscuits

 Hosiery & Ready-Made Garments

 Electronic Products

 Breweries

 Cigarettes

 Footwears
  Toys

 Milk Products & Other Food Items

 Tea & Coffee

 Automobile Components

 Rubber & Rubber Products

 Engineering Items and Consumer Durable Like Refrigerators, Tvs,

Air Coolers, Fans Etc.

 Stationary Items

 Match Boxes

 Frozen Fish

 Apple, Cherry, Grapes Etc.

 Cashew Nut Industry

It would not be an exaggeration if one states that practically every product at some or
the other stage, has to be packed in corrugated paper board or box. Usually, at the
manufacturer/wholesaler’s level the individual units of a particular item are packed
together in a carton/corrugated box for the sake of convenience in
handling/transporting.
 GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS AND CONSIDERATIONS
If produce is to be stored, it is important to begin with a high-quality product. The
produce must not contain damaged or diseased units, and containers must be well
ventilated and strong enough to withstand stacking. In general, proper storage
practices include temperature control, relative humidity control, air circulation
and maintenance of space between containers for adequate ventilation, and
avoiding incompatible product mixes. Commodities stored together should be
capable of tolerating the same temperature, relative humidity and level of
ethylene in the storage environment. High ethylene producers (such as ripe
bananas and apples) can stimulate physiological changes in ethylene sensitive
commodities (such as lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes)
leading to often undesirable colour, flavour and texture changes.
The general features of a cold store operational programme (products,
chilling and chilled storage and freezing) include total capacity, number and size
of rooms, refrigeration system, storage and handling equipment and access
facilities. The relative positioning of the different parts will condition the
refrigeration system chosen. The site of the cold chambers should be decided once
the sizes are known, but as a general rule they should be in the shade of direct
sunlight. The land area must be large enough for the store, its annexes and areas
for traffic, parking and possible future enlargement. A land area about six to ten
times the area of the covered surface will suffice.
There is a general trend to construct single-storey cold stores, in spite of
the relatively high surface: volume ratio influencing heat losses. The single storey
has many advantages: lighter construction; span and pillar height can be
increased; building on lower resistance soils is possible; internal mechanical
transport is easier. Mechanical handling with forklift trucks allows the building
of stores of great height, reducing the costs of construction for a given total
volume.
The greater the height of the chambers the better, limited only by the
mechanical means of stacking and by the mechanical resistance either of the
packaging material or of the unpackaged merchandise. The length and width of
the chambers are determined by the total amount of merchandise to be handled,
how it is handled (rails, forklift trucks), the number of chambers and the
dimensions of basic handling elements.
There is no advantage in building many chambers of a small size.
Thermal and hygrometric requirements are not so strict as to justify a lot of rooms:
the accuracy of the measuring instruments and the regulation of conditions inside
the chamber always produce higher deviations than those of ideal storage
conditions for different products. This is particularly true for frozen products.
A design that opts for fewer, larger chambers represents in the first place an
economy in construction costs as many divisional walls and doors are eliminated.
Refrigeration and control equipment is simplified and reduced, affecting
investment and running costs. Large chambers allow easier control of temperature
and relative humidity and also better use of storage space. Only in very particular
situations should the cold store be designed with more than five or six cold
chambers. Store capacity is the total amount of produce to be stored. If the total
volume of the chambers is filled, the quantity of produce by unit of volume will
express storage density.
Several parameters must be defined within a cold store. The total
volume is the space comprised within the floor, roof and walls of the building.
The gross volume is the total volume in which produce can be stored, that is
excluding other spaces not for storage. The net volume represents the space where
produce is stacked, excluding those spaces occupied by pillars, coolers, ducts, air
circulation and traffic passages inside the chambers that are included in the gross
volume. Storage density referred to as net volume is expressed in kg/useful m3,
but is most commonly referred to as gross volume.
An index of how reasonably and economically the cold store
has been designed is the gross volume divided by the total volume. It must be in
the range of 0.50 to 0.80. Similarly, gross volume is about 50 percent greater than
net volume, and gross area (same concept as volume) is about 25 percent greater
than net area. The extent of occupation is the ratio between the actual quantity of
produce in storage at a given moment and that which can be stored. Equally the
extent of utilization is the average of the extent of occupation during a given
period — usually a year, but it can also be per month
Temperature management during storage can be aided by
constructing square rather than rectangular buildings. Rectangular buildings have
more wall area per square meter of storage space, so more heat is conducted
across the walls, making them more expensive to cool. Temperature management
can also be aided by shading buildings, painting storehouses white or silver to
help reflect the sun's rays, or by using sprinkler systems on the roof of a building
for evaporative cooling. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) recommends the use of Ferro cement for the construction of storage
structures in tropical regions, with thick walls to provide insulation. Facilities
located at higher altitudes can be effective, since air temperature decreases as
altitude increases. Increased altitude therefore can make evaporative cooling,
night cooling and radiant cooling more feasible.
The air composition in the storage environment can be manipulated
by increasing or decreasing the rate of ventilation (introduction of fresh air) or by
using gas absorbers such as potassium permanganate or activated charcoal.
Large-scale controlled or modified atmosphere storage requires complex
technology and management skills; however, some simple methods are available
for handling small volumes of produce.
TECHNICAL STANDARD FOR CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE COLD
STORAGE FOR FRUITS

Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage uses oxygen and carbon dioxide

concentrations of about 1% to 5% for each gas in most applications. Normal room
air has an O 2 concentration of about 21% and CO 2 levels near 0.03%. Low O 2
and high CO 2 levels slow the ripening process, stop the development of some
storage disorders such as scald in apples, and slows the growth of decay
organisms. All of these effects increase storage life of fresh produce compared
with conventional refrigerated stores. These facilities are recommended for long
term storage of fruits and vegetables like Apples, Pears, kiwi, cabbage etc. for up
to 10 months.
In Indian context, use of Controlled Atmosphere technology has increased
steadily, contributing significantly to extending the post-harvest life and
maintaining the quality of apples during the past few years. This trend is expected
to continue as technology advances are made in this field.

CA storages are generally multiple chambers with each chamber of

capacity of 50-250 MT. However, it is expected that economically viable designs
of small CA storages of single chamber and storage capacity of 50 MT or so may
come up in near future. In CA stores produce is stored in large bins which are
stackable up to 11 high (total chamber height up to 10 m) or in PVC crates which
can be stacked in mild steel pallet frames up to 4 levels high (chamber height up
to 8 m). Storage in CFB box may also be resorted to for short duration storage of
fruits like strawberry. The refrigeration system is designed to maintain
temperature of -1 with humidity of 90%- 95% RH.
Recommended levels of O 2 and / or CO 2 are automatically regulated,
measured and corrected during the storage period. Manual regulation supported
by high precision analyser has been in use in some countries but are getting
phased out. In spite of cost implication automatic regulation levels of O 2 and /
or CO 2 is recommended to minimise possibility of storage disorders in high
value produce stored in CA storages.
Several types of CA storage technology are available which include Ultra
Low Oxygen Cold Store (ULO) for storage atmosphere below 2%, Low Ethylene
CA storage, Rapid CA cold store for rapid establishment of optimal levels of O 2
and CO 2 levels and Programmed / Sequential CA storage. Such facilities are
recommended to be store under the desired storage and CA conditions within 5
to 7 days of harvest.

METHOD OF REGULATION OF ATMOSPHERE IN CA COLD

STORES
It has been adopted from International Standards ISO 6949:1988 (E) which
specifies the principals and techniques of controlled atmosphere storage for Fruits
and vegetables. However, the practice and specifications of controlled
atmosphere cold stores as define in ISO 6949:1988 (E) are restricted to Type-2
of ISO codes 3 for this purpose only. The techniques and requirements pertaining
to method of regulation of atmosphere, gas tightness, equalization of pressure,
testing for gas tightness, regulation of temperature, gas generator, maintenance
and operation etc are suitably covered under the ISO code which is part of the
Technical Standard Documents as Annexure-IV.

CRITICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CA COLD STORE

1. Pre-Cooling/ Rapid Cooling: - Controlling fresh produce temperature and

reducing the amount of time the product is at less than optimal storage
temperature are the most important methods of slowing quality loss in
perishables. Pre-cooling or rapid cooling requirements will vary based on
produce and method of cooling such as room cool, hydro cool, forced air
cooling, evaporative forced air cooling and ice packaging. However, room
cooling and forced air cooling may suffice for most of the produce and
therefore, it is taken for recommending general technical standards for pre-
cooling system. General recommendations in this regard for 7/8 cool for fruits
and vegetable should be followed.
For example, apples, should be cooled as quickly as possible after
harvest. Apples are not injured by rapid cooling. A delay of 1 day at 21uC
after harvest takes 7 to 10 days off the potential storage life at 0uC. A delay
of 3 days in the orchard or in a warm packing shed may shorten their storage
life as much as 30 days, even if they are subsequently stored in CA at -1uC.
Therefore, adequate refrigeration capacity to handle the maximum heat load
is essential during room cooling. If adequate refrigeration and air circulation
and not provided, apples may take several weeks to cool and thereby storage
life is shortened. The desirable goal is for temperature of fruit in the centre of
the stacks to drop to 0uC to 0.6uC in 2 to 4 days. Rapid cooling is also
important to reduce water loss from the produce.
The main advantage of room cooling is that the produce can be cooled
and stored in the same room without the need of transfer but it requires that
the rooms are properly designed with adequate refrigeration, air circulation
and most importantly proper stacking of bins / storage arrangement
2. Quality of Produce: - The storage life of produce varies widely with the
quality of produce at the time of harvest and its preservation during post-
harvest. For example, apples, which is widely stored in controlled atmosphere
cold stores all over the world should be harvested when mature but fully ripe
for maximum storage life. Immature apples have poor eating quality likely to
shrivel in storage. They are also more susceptible to storage disorders.
Therefore, good keeping quality of fresh produce to be stored must be not
only sound at the right stage of maturity but also carefully handled in all
operations including picking, grading and packaging. The main cause of
rotten fruits in storage is rough handling or delay in pre-cooling to
recommended storage conditions.
3. Commodity Storage Condition: - For designing a cold storage, product
storage conditions must be defined in terms of critical storage conditions of
temperature, relative humidity, presence of CO2, ethylene, air circulation,
light etc. In absence of research data for Indian conditions, it is recommended
to adopt commodity storage conditions as prescribed by Commodity Storage
Manual of WFLO.

 The temperature in the CA cold store facility should be kept within +1 0

C of the recommend temperature of the produce being stored. For storing
at temperatures close to freezing point of the commodity, for increasing
storage life, even a narrow range may be needed.

 The humidity (RH) in a long-term CA cold store facility should be kept at

90% to 4 95%. The refrigeration system must be specially designed for
maintaining high RH. Cooling Coils with large surface area and refrigerant
controls maintain highest possible coil temperature reduce the amount of
moisture from the CA cold store air and the produce. The coil should be
large enough to operate at 2.2uC to 4.4uC 1 cooler than the room air
 temperature. Smaller coils result in un-acceptable moisture loss and further
require to be supplemented with humidification equipment which result in
un-controlled humidity levels and may cause growth of micro-organism,
storage disorders like surface cracking etc.

 Co2 and 02 levels are to be maintained as per the standards laid down by
the WFLO

 Loading Rate: - To achieve good storage quality, the room should be small
enough to be filled in 3 days or sooner with adequate refrigeration capacity
and air circulation. As a guiding principle, loading rates may vary from 3%
to 5% of the total cold store capacity and it is critical to sizing the chamber
capacity of the Controlled Atmosphere store.

 Air Circulation: - CA cold store should be designed to provide an air flow

of 165 cmh per MT of product, based on maximum amount of product that
can be stored in each chamber. This is essential for rapid cooling of the
produce. However, the system should be designed to reduce air flow to 33
to 66 cmh/ MT after the produce has reached the storage temperature. This
is achieved by variable frequency drive and control system. It is also
recommended that once the core temperature is reached air flow is
minimized by cycling evaporator fans automatically. During the winter
storage period in temperate climates, most refrigeration load comes from
heat rejected by the evaporative fans and motors. Therefore, optimizing fan
operation time results in tremendous saving in electricity cost. It may also
increase humidity in the storage and reduce product moisture loss.

 Stacking: - During room cooling, cold air from the coils flows past the
produce bins/ crates thereby removing the product heat. For best result bins
should be stacked so that the moving air can contact all the container
surfaces for adequate and rapid cooling. Well ventilated bins/crates with
vent alignment should be considered as they great speed-up the cooling rate
by allowing the cooling air to uniformly flow. It is recommended that the
bins / pallets must be stacked to form air channels 4 to 6 inches wide to
direct air movement. They should also be space between the product and
walls to allow refrigerated air to absorb the heat of conduction through the
walls. Since, air takes the path of least resistant, in proper stacking in hips
or partly filled rooms have poor air distribution and effect the cooling rate.
However, there are reported instances of storing F & V in CFB cartons too
but not recommended for long term storage. For higher efficiency achieved
by regulating the air flow by VFD and cyclic operation of the fans, The CA
cold store stacking arrangement should be well designed to move the air
uniformly through the stored produce. It is therefore recommended that CA
cold store chamber / facility are designed for storage in Bins / PVC crates.
The bins are of PVC / Treated wood and require to be handled with fork
lift / stackers. Generally, the PVC bins available in the country are of 300
Kg capacity each of size 1200 mm x 1000 mm x 780 mm which can be
stacked up to 9 high.

Controlled Atmosphere Cold Storage Process

Cold storages are standard preservation chambers built at site to desired
dimensions and cooling specifications with a series of machines providing
complete solution to refrigeration. To fight the natural process of ripening an Inert
Gas like Nitrogen is used to contain the amount of Oxygen present in the
atmosphere inside the cold store and thereby slowing down the ripening process
of the fruit. Commercially available gases for this duty are Nitrogen and Argon.
Nitrogen is a natural choice due to its low cost and convenience of producing on-
site.
Fresh fruits, most commonly apples and pears, where the combination of
altered atmospheric conditions and reduced temperature allow prolonged storage
with only a slow loss of quality.

Benefits of Cold Storages

The climate and geography of this region is conducive to large harvests. The
warm weather and rain make the area very suitable for growing fruits and
vegetables. The monsoon season brings plentiful rain to needy crops, hastening
growth. However, these conditions are very poor for storing crops in the open or
in makeshift storage. Cold storage, encompassing both standard refrigerated and
controlled atmosphere storage, can extend the life of crops a great deal, especially
in the case of the ubiquitous apple.
While apples left in the open may be lucky to last a week, Fischbacher and
Marsden (1966) indicate that refrigerated storage can preserve them up to six
months, while controlled atmosphere can keep apples for nearly twelve months,
Of the many possible methods to store fruit, refrigeration is definitely the most
potent, and remains relatively inexpensive. If apple farmers are able to use this
technology, they can safeguard their crops from the weather and other dangers,
and have more opportunities to sell at market. While there is not a huge selection
of cold storage facilities in the region currently, this number is growing due to
government subsidies and private investment, and those that exist are attempting
to make themselves more accessible to farmer.
Another benefit of controlled atmosphere storage in particular is how well it
maintains the quality of fruit. Studies demonstrate that long-term controlled
atmosphere storage affects the chemical composition of the apples in a manner
very similar to short-term open-air storage. In fact, the composition and number
of antioxidants between apples stored in the air and in controlled atmosphere is
identical. Anthocyanins, a class of flavonoids known help DNA repair and
prevent cancer, also show no decrease in apples stored in controlled atmosphere.
While the amino acid content of apples may degrade in long term storage,
controlled atmosphere storage prevents this due to minimal CO2 and O2 levels.
Overall, vitamin content is minimally affected by this kind of long-term storage,
retaining the nutritional value of the fruit.

MARKET POTENTIAL
India has seen a phenomenal growth in production of horticulture produce, dairy
and meat products over the last decade. Presently, India occupies a position
amongst the top three in production of a host of commodities including spices,
fisheries, poultry, milk, fruits and vegetables. But even with such large production
volumes, India’s present share in global farm trade is still very small. India is the
second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world.
Indian cold storage market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.09% by
2020 driven by the growth in the organized retail, Indian fast food market, food
processing industry and e-commerce sectors. Cold storage market in India is
expected to be worth US$ 8.57 billion by 2020. The cold storage market
in India is highly fragmented with more than 3500 players in the unorganized
sector and around 30 players in the organized sector. India currently has 6156
cold storage facilities across various states with total capacity of 28.68 MT which
is insufficient. Due to lack of cold storage facilities, India has wastage of more
than 450 MT every year which leads to a huge amount of loss, and leads to
shortage in the overall generation capability.
Refrigerated storage market in India which constitutes a minor market
share in overall cold storage market in India is expected to grow at a CAGR rate
of 15% in the next 5 years. Refrigerated transportation market which is largest
contributor to cold storage market in India is expected to grow at a CAGR rate of
17% in the next 5 years. Meat and fish cold storage market in India has largest
revenue share of entire cold storage market in India and is expected to grow at a
CAGR rate of 9% in the next 5 years.
The cold storage market for the storage of apples in J&K is increasing at the
continuous rate, with increasing capacity of storage of apples each year. This
move has benefitted the farmers of J&K. It is expected to increase at 9% each
year.