Finding the sweet spot of cargo climate control – how BlueSeal air curtains are tackling one of cold chain’s biggest challenges

Temperature controlled transport technology has come on leaps and bounds over the past decade with sustainable on-board energy solutions at the forefront of this conversation. But with this emerging technology there is no escaping one of the most basic principles of physics: heat transfer.

Leaving the door of a refrigerated vehicle open during deliveries is on a par with leaving your home refrigerator door open, except the consequences far exceed that of a hefty electricity bill. When the cold air pours out of the vehicle, warm air infiltrates the cargo space and the TRU expends a vast amount of energy (and fuel) bringing this temperature back down to the level required to safely transport temperature sensitive products.

It is difficult to quantify the colossal scale of this problem and the impact that it has both on daily operating costs and the increased harmful emissions through failing to manage this energy use effectively.

BlueSeal air curtains were designed to tackle this problem in the most efficient and user-friendly way possible. In 2005, a team of Dutch physicists proposed this as a solution to saving energy for a zero-emission refrigeration truck concept, which led to the creation of a BlueSeal prototype. The team was tasked with finding the optimal balance for maintaining the cold chain in a way that would be convenient to the drivers, beneficial to the environment and cost-effective for transport operators.

The biggest challenge the team faced was finding the ‘sweet spot’ for how the air curtain could handle climate control the most effectively. The performance of the air curtain as a method of temperature control depends on several critical factors. Firstly, the air outlet itself is designed to be relatively wide and evenly distributed, creating a stable, laminar flow of air that creates a delicately balanced barrier. Secondly, the power efficiency of the air curtain itself – creating an effective air flow with minimal energy requirements. And thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the speed of the air flow itself.

This is where extensive testing, independent customer trials and decades of research into aerodynamics came into play to calibrate BlueSeal as we see it today. As well as real world tests, the team uses Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations to explore and optimise performance in different vehicle configurations. With an airflow that is too weak, temperature control is ineffective. But too high and the air flow creates turbulence, directing warm ambient air into the refrigerated space, increasing heat transfer instead of reducing it.

By taking all of these factors into consideration, BlueSeal air curtains are revolutionising the way that transporters are thinking about temperature control in their vehicles. Through a patented laminar airflow system and highly nuanced, intelligent design choices, BlueSeal is yet unmatched in its ability to control temperature in vehicles.

The effectiveness of BlueSeal has been repeatedly put to the test in independent customer tests and scientific studies that have helped to verify the company’s reputation as a leader in vehicle climate control. Brunel University’s Centre for Sustainable Energy Use in Food Chains helped to validate the system’s impressive performance with their research project finding that using a BlueSeal air curtain with an optimal airflow resulted in approximately 30% less energy to recover the cargo temperature in a small box truck, and a dramatic energy saving of approximately 45% in their 18-tonne truck model.

In another test by a leading food wholesaler over the course of a full year, the TRU fuel cost savings were found to be in excess of 31% compared to the 25% saving of newly fitted PVC strip barriers. This can be attributed to a number of factors including how PVC curtains are used in situ, often delivery drivers will move physical curtains to one side during loading and unloading, rendering them obsolete during the most critical point in the cold chain.

In addition to their performance, BlueSeal air curtains are known for their durability and exceptional build quality, which the company attributes to manufacturing in Holland. As a premium product, BlueSeal customers benefit from having these produced domestically and the units will commonly outlive the vehicles they are fitted in.

BlueSeal are currently in the final stages of developing a peripheral add-on that will further improve the effectiveness of the air curtains, that they hope to take to market in 2026. This will allow BlueSeal to monitor external parameters including internal cargo temperature and adjust the airflow accordingly to ensure that the units perform at optimal efficiency at all times.

With over 25,000 units on vehicles around the world and most major food and pharmaceutical distribution companies using this as their go-to method of cargo climate control, the BlueSeal name has become synonymous with cold chain efficiency.

This article was originally published in TCS&D Magazine – October/November 2025. You can read the original article on page 24 at https://online.pubhtml5.com/culdp/ycjm/