Heat transfer system for warehoused goods

An installation for cooling to a desired temperature, heating to the desired temperature or maintaining at the desired temperature in a quantity of product, the installation comprising:

• a plurality of pallet assemblies;
• a warehouse space having a plurality of racks defining a plurality of bays positioned adjacent to an aisle, each of said plurality of bays sized to receive the plurality of pallet assemblies along a bay depth, the pallet assemblies each loaded with a quantity of product to be set at the desired temperature;
• at least one air handler operably connected to said warehouse space to condition an ambient air in said warehouse space, said at least one air handler having an output sufficient to achieve and maintain a temperature of the ambient air in said warehouse space at the desired temperature;
• at least one air flow chamber in fluid communication with a plurality of air intake openings formed through each of said plurality of racks to facilitate airflow into each of said plurality of bays;
• at least one fan in fluid communication with said at least one air flow chamber, said fan operable to create a circulation of the ambient air flowing through said plurality of air intake openings, through said plurality of pallet assemblies along said bay depth, and finally into said at least one air flow chamber where the ambient air is exhausted back to said warehouse space;
• at least one of said plurality of pallet assemblies comprising:
• a pallet having a case support surface defining a case support surface area;
• a plurality of cases containing the quantity of product, said plurality of cases arranged within a profile defined by said case support surface area;
• a lateral pallet spacer protruding outwardly from said case support surface area and oriented to abut an adjacent one of said plurality of pallet assemblies when said plurality of pallet assemblies are arranged along said bay depth, whereby said lateral pallet spacer establishes and maintains a lateral separation space between each pair of adjacent pallet assemblies in a respective one of said bays within said plurality of racks;
• and
• at least one product spacer, each said product spacer comprising:
• a substantially planar upper support surface extending in an x-y plane of a Cartesian coordinate system, said upper support surface defining a spacer outer perimeter of a size and shape about congruent to said case support surface area of the pallet;
• a substantially planar lower support surface spaced from said upper support surface along the z-direction;
• and
• a plurality of supports extending between said upper support surface and said lower support surface along a trajectory having a directional component along a z-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system, whereby each of said plurality of supports space said upper support surface from said lower support surface,
• said upper support surface, said lower support surface and said supports cooperating to define at least one longitudinal airflow channel extending along the x-direction, said at least one airflow channel spanning a pair of opposing sides of said at least one product spacer;
• each of said plurality of cases stacked on said pallet of one of said plurality of pallet assemblies in a plurality of case layers, each of said plurality of case layers separated from another of said plurality of case layers by one of a plurality of said product spacers;
• and
• one of said plurality of pallet assemblies arranged along said bay depth being in an upstream location in direct fluid communication with one of said plurality of air intake openings, such that said circulation created by said at least one fan causes airflow through the channel in the at least one product spacer of said pallet assembly in said upstream location, then into said lateral separation space between said plurality of pallet assemblies arranged along said bay depth, and then through the channel in the at least one product spacer of the next downstream pallet assembly.

A method of maintaining a quantity of a product at a desired temperature, comprising:

• preparing a plurality of pallet assemblies by stacking a plurality of cases and a plurality of spacers on respective pallets so that respective rows of the plurality of cases are separated from each one another along a z-axis of a Cartesian coordinate system by the spacers, the spacers comprising:
• a substantially planar upper support surface extending in an x-y plane of a Cartesian coordinate system, the upper support surface defining a spacer outer perimeter of a size and shape about congruent to a case support surface area of the pallet;
• a substantially planar lower support surface spaced from the upper support surface along the z-direction;
• a plurality of supports extending between the upper support surface and the lower support surface along a trajectory having a directional component along a z-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system, whereby each of the plurality of supports space the upper support surface from the lower support surface,
• the upper support surface, the lower support surface and the supports cooperating to define at least one longitudinal airflow channel extending along the x-direction, the at least one airflow channel spanning a pair of opposing sides of the spacer;
• and
• installing a lateral pallet spacer on each pallet assembly, after the step of stacking a plurality of cases and a plurality of spacers on the pallet, such that the lateral pallet spacer protrudes outwardly from a case support area of the pallet along the x-direction;
• loading the plurality of pallet assemblies into a bay of a rack so that multiple ones of the plurality of pallet assemblies are arranged side by side along the x-direction, and such that each lateral pallet spacer is oriented to abut an adjacent one of the plurality of pallet assemblies;
• and
• directing a thermally conditioned airflow into the bay, through an upstream one of the plurality of pallet assemblies via the airflow channel of the spacer, into a manifold space created by the lateral pallet spacer such that a positive air pressure is created in the manifold space, and into a next adjacent downstream one of the plurality of pallet assemblies.