ICA instrument division specializes in the design and construction of laboratory facilities for post-harvest research into the effects of Controlled Atmospheres and respiration rates.

David Bishop, ICA's technical director has designed and provided systems for many of the worlds leading CA facilities and from this experience we can suggest and recommend the most appropriate systems to meet the researchers need and budget.

The first stage of CA testing is to subject a relatively small quantity of produce ( 1 to 10 Kg ) to the Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide mixture to be tested. This mixture is of sufficient flow so as not to be unduly influenced by the produce respiration but low enough to be economic with the gas and to minimise product water loss. These tests are often replicated with a range of gas mixtures flowing into multiple sample containers.

We build systems with flowmeter mixing of Air, Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide. The mixtures are pre-set with needle valves and can be regularly measured and logged into a computer.

We have built systems from 4 mixtures with 2 jars on each mixture up to large systems with 48 different mixtures each feeding 4 to 6 jars.

Another stage in CA testing is to maintain a CA atmosphere by balancing the produce respiration with the addition of oxygen and removal of CO2.
This is suitable for testing quantities of produce from 50 kg upwards. The first essential requirement is to have a leak tight container which we can supply.

The container atmosphere then requires accurate measurement of its gas content without excessively disturbing the mixture. This requires the return of the gas sample to the cabinet which is incorporated into our laboratory systems.

Once the gas measurements have been made an automatic control system can decide what control actions are needed and correct the atmosphere usually by the injection of air or nitrogen but alternative CO2 removal and addition systems can be incorporated.

We have designed and built systems from a single manually controlled cabinet to complete computerised recording and control systems with over 50 cabinets.

Please see on the Instrument section of our web site details of our CA analysers and CA systems that have been designed to readily adapt for laboratory work.

We have on many occasions helped our Lab customers in developing a specification to meet their need and subsequently building and installing a successful system that has operated for many years. Please contact us on tech@icastorage.com and let us help build or upgrade your facility.