Nordic Power Desiccant - FAQ

Nordic Power Desiccant
Frequently Asked Questions.
1. How does Nordic Power Desiccants help solve moisture
problems?
This unique product absorbs moisture by extracting water vapor
present in the air, thus preventing the humidity inside the
container from reaching dew point and condensing. The desiccant
then starts to turn into a gel as it continues to absorb moisture.
The water absorbed is retained due to the presence of a special
binding agent, thus preventing it from leaking. Lower relative
humidity Nordic controls the humidity inside containers by
preventing the air from reaching dew point and condensing, thus
protecting your precious cargo.
2. What is Relative Humidity (RH)?
Relative humidity measures the amount of moisture in the air. It
is expressed in a percentage of how much moisture the air could
possibly hold. The wetter or damper the air is, the higher the
relative humidity. The drier the air feels, the lower the relative
humidity. Thus, 100% humidity is actually rain.
3. What are the most common problems caused by moisture?
Moisture in containers causes problems such as mold, fungus,
mildew, rust decay, lumping, caking, agglomeration, and
decomposition. Moisture can also cause electronics to
malfunction.
4. Is moisture damage always instantly visible when handling
the cargo?
Unfortunately not. Though common forms of moisture problems
such as corrosion, mold, or fungus are visible on the cartons,
surfaces etc there are some kinds of damage that is not visible.
Mostly these damages are internal and visible only when the
customer opens the shipments. In the case of devices, they often
cease to function the way they should.
5. I fumigate my containers; do I still need to put in desiccants?
Fumigation and using desiccants have two different purposes and
are not alternatives to protect your goods against moisture
damage. Fumigation is primarily to eliminate insects and eggs in
the container and in the goods. It has no influence on the
humidity inside a container. Desiccants will not influence the
effects of fumigation and can easily be put in before or after
fumigation.
6. If I use Nordic, will I have any more moisture problems?
Nordic Prevents Moisture damage by controlling the Relative
humidity and indeed prevents those problems. However, the
ventilation holes in the container need to be closed and the
number of units to be put in a container needs to be adjusted to
the situation.
7. I load my container under dry conditions and it is very tightly
sealed. How come I still experience moisture problems?
If there are still moisture problems, we can easily say that the
number of units per containers currently is not sufficient and it is
advisable to increase the units per container. There are many
factors for bigger amounts of moisture inside the container.
Examples of those factors are:
Container Floor: Recent studies carried out by R&D department,
proved that the moisture content of the wooden floors is higher
than they used to be. That is partly because of the quality of the
wood that is being used nowadays and partly because the floors
are being cleaned with water and they are not dried out enough
before being used.
Packaging: Wooden pallets always contain more than 20 %
moisture, which always causes problems whichever products are
put on the pallets. The packaging, often being cartons, contains a
lot of moisture in itself, which will spread into the cargo or
vaporizes into the air.
Products: The biggest factor of moisture inside a container is the
products itself. The MC varies roughly spoken between 10% and
35%. When the MC reach the 25%, the cargo is in the danger
zone.
Journey and climate factors: When all the above mentioned
factors are controlled and there is still a problem, they surely are
the conditions during transport. The first point of consideration is
the transport time. It depends on the destination and more
importantly the climate during shipment and final destination.
Basically, the changes in temperature and automatically the
relative humidity is the cause of condensation. If long transits
cannot be avoided, again our advice is to add more units to
absorb the extra water molecules.
8. I ship consumer goods in tubes/cans/jars etc that contain no
moisture, yet I still have problems.
As said before the moisture comes from the container floor,
pallets, open ventilations, weather change during journey. And it
will condense on the tubes/cans/jars that cause corrosion and
labels to fall off.
9. Each container of my cargo of peanuts/coffee/cocoa contains
tons of moisture. What difference does it make if Nordic
absorbs a few liters moisture during a voyage?
Nordic absorbs the exceeding water molecules in the air and
reduces the Relative Humidity inside the container, so that it will
not reach the dew point.
10. Does it make a lot of difference that my cocoa beans have a
moisture content of 8% instead of 7%?
One percent more or less doesn't make a difference, especially
not when the MC is on the lower side.
11. My cargo of peanuts had suffered damage in the centre even
though the outside of the cargo looked fine and there were no
signs of condensation. Why?
Condensation on the surface of your cargos can evaporate
quickly, but it takes more time for the moisture which gets
trapped deeper. Before it evaporates back to the air, mold and
fungus would have already grown.
12. How does Silica gel works?
Silica gel is the most common type of desiccant in use today. It is
porous sand and can absorb moisture in the air. However, silica
gel absorbs moisture best in small, confined spaces and often
ends up getting saturated in a very short time span, making them
unsuitable for container shipments. Beware that some silica gel the blue contains cobalt - is toxic, and cannot be disposed of any
which way.
13. Do I still need to use silica gel in my boxes?
It is definitely not a bad idea to use sachets of silica where the air
is tight, and moisture is trapped, like in boxes and items packed in
plastics.
14. My Cargo was damaged even though I used a lot of silica gel
and there was no condensation. Would it help to switch to
Nordic?
Perhaps there was not enough Silica Gel put inside the container.
You need about 40Kg Silica Gel for a 20" container. I can assure
you a better result with Nordic Power Desiccants. Silica works
pretty well in smaller closed spaces, like shoeboxes. It absorbs
very quickly and is often already saturated before the container is
moved.
15. What is so great about Nordic anyway?
We have superb products that actually reduce the RH inside the
container. When it absorbs moisture, the powder base will
change into a gel. It is more efficient and safe in use. Even when
the product gets damaged, it will not spill any water on the
goods. It is easy, safe, and inexpensive solution for the problems
with moisture damage.
16. How many units must be put in one container?
That depends on many things. The container size, the cargo,
moisture of cargo, moisture of container's floor, moisture of
pallets, length of journey, and weather during journey and so on.
An example: a 20 feet container with KD (Kiln Dried) furniture
needs 4 units, while 20" air dried furniture needs 6 units. We
generally offer expert advice regarding optimum usage of the
desiccants for best results.
17. Do I need to line my container with Kraft paper?
Sweat or Kraft paper is a commonly used method of containing
"rainfall" that occurs inside a container. Normally it is installed
under the ceiling to absorb the moisture that may occur due to
container rain. It is most useful while shipping goods that have
very high moisture condensation, but it cannot replace a
desiccant that soaks up the humidity before it even turns into
rain.
18. My containers are stuffed till the top. Can Nordic still be
useful?
It seems that there is almost no free air in the container, while
there is actually a lot of free air between the products, and Nordic
absorbs the moisture in that air and prevents condensation.
19. I have problems with mold growth inside my shrink-wrapped
pallets. Will Nordic help?
No, unless you make holes so the water molecules won't get
trapped.
20. My shipment of steel/galvanized components, aluminum,
machinery etc. arrives corroded, stained or discolored, despite
heavy packaging. Will Nordic help?
Yes, as long as you put enough units per containers and do not
wrap the items in plastic.
21. Can I re-use my Nordic Power Desiccants?
Nordic Power Desiccants are one-time usable, environmental
neutral and disposable as normal waste.
22. My cargoes are outdoor furniture with brass parts on it.
When the goods arrive at the destination, the wooden part is in
perfect condition but the brass part has slight stains on it. What
should I do to avoid this? Should I use more units of Nordic?
In some cases, it can happen. I can suggest adding one or two
more units and wrapping it properly with only single face carton.
23. I notice that two kinds of containers available in the market
right now, which are steel and aluminum types. If I shipped the
same commodity inside of steel and aluminum containers
should I used same numbers of Nordic or not?
There is not much difference between those containers, so you
don't have to adjust the number of units.
InterDry (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
438/34-35 Bangna Trad Road Bangbo, Samutprakarn 10560
Phone: 02-707 9884 | Fax: 02-707 9885 | Direct: 08-5812 4188
Email: p.prem@interdrythailand.com
www.interdrythailand.com