Frequently Asked Questions

Absorpoles contain calcium chloride that agressively capture and absorb moisture from the air. They dry the air. When the air is dry, there are no moisture problems.

Most, but not all. Some cargoes may be so wet that any reasonable number of Absorpoles get overwhelmed. But Absorpoles can reliably protect even very difficult cargoes that may contain tons of moisture, such as coffee beans, wood products or paper.

Your cargo or the packaging, including container floors, pallets and crates, contain moisture that can evaporate into the air during transport. Wet packaging material is the most common cause of unexpected moisture problems.

Check your container and your packaging material. Did you just start to store your pallets outdoors? Does your forklift drive into the container with snow on the wheels? Did you just change supplier of crates? You cannot tell by looking whether wood or cartons are dry. The moisture properties of wood and cartons have an exponential character. It makes a huge difference if your pallets have a moisture content of 20% instead of say 15%.

Consumer goods are often shipped with a lot of cardboard packaging. Even if the boxes seem dry they could literally hold hundreds of liters of water.

Moisture processes have an exponential character. That means that even a small change in circumstances can have a huge effect on the outcome. Absorpoles create circumstances that allow almost all of the moisture to remain in the cargo even while the level of humidity in the air is lowered by a crucial amount, sufficient to prevent damage. It is a question of ”leverage”. This is by absorbing moisture from the air and reducing the relative humidity.

Yes, such a difference could be all the difference between no damage and disaster. The moisture behaviour of most agricultural products have a strong exponential character.

Much, if not most, damage to cargoes is caused by prolonged periods of elevated humidity without any condensation (Container rain, Container sweat, Super Saturation Event). It is common that cargoes loaded at a cool temperature and then moved into warm conditions suffer damage in the centre of the cargo. This is a result of a difference in temperature between the outside and the centre of the cargo. Warm air from the outside of the cargo becomes humid as it moves into the cooler centre. Absorpoles protect against this effect even though the poles are mounted on the container walls.

Calcium chloride absorbs moisture even when the humidity is not very high. This protects the cargo against damage caused by prolonged periods of elevated humidity. Some kinds of steel start to corrode at 70% relative humidity, moulds can grow at 80% relative humidity and at near 90% relative humidity lots of things can go wrong. Yet, Absorpoles are also at their most efficient protecting against condensation. Most other products, such as silica gels, are only effective in very humid conditions and for a short time period before they become over-saturated.

Well, they will not fall off the wall, get punctured during loading and unloading, leave a wet puddle on the cargo or run out after half the voyage. They are installed in seconds without ladders and take up no cargo space. The capacity of each pole is big, so fewer are required. The cost of an installation is very competitive, even against much inferior alternatives.

The number of Absorpoles required to protect the cargo depends on the cargo, the temperature conditions during the voyage, the length of the voyage – and just how safe you want to be. For some really dry cargoes 2-3 Absorpoles are enough. For most ”normal” goods 4-6 Absorpoles is Sufficient. Some cargoes with very difficult moisture properties on long voyages may reguire up to 16 Absorpoles.

Many containers are lined with kraft paper primarily for reasons of hygiene or to simply isolate the cargo from direct contact with the container walls. The liner will act as a kind of sponge, catching and absorbing any droplets of water and then re-evaporating the moisture into the air. If a liner is used without Absorpoles it could contribute to a kind of pumping effect, drawing moisture out of the cargo and then releasing back into the air. When used together with Absorpoles the liner will act as a buffer in extreme conditions, this will prevent any container rain from reaching the cargo. Much the same can be said for so called dew cloths.

Moisture diffuses very effectively, even through a seemingly compact cargo. Experience shows that Absorpoles will make a difference even to mould growth inside cartons in the cargo. It is, however, necessary that some free space is left in front of the grille of each Absorpole. If some Absorpoles have collected less water than others inside a container, there may be a problem with air acess to those poles.

Yes, so long that there is some acess of air through the top and bottom of the pallets. If this is not possible, a spiked roller may be used to tear holes in the shrink wrap.

You can forget about your tectyl, coatings, oil-paper and plastic wraps that are expensive both to apply and remove. Your container can probably be equipped with a sufficient number of Absorpoles to protect against any damage at less cost than your present packaging.

No it is not. Calcium chloride is non-toxic and environmentally safe. The brine is somewhat similar to very salty seawater, and may cause irritation and rashes if left to dry on the skin. We recommend that you wear gloves and goggles when handling used poles. But should you get splashed by brine just wash off immediately with plenty of fresh water.

The poles are made by PP/PE plastic, similar to what is used to make drink bottles, and it is readily recyclable. Each part of the pole is appropriately marked for optimum recycling. Any remaining calcium chloride is easily removed by soaking the poles in fresh water.