WESTERN PULP PRODUCTS COMPANY EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF EXTERNAL TEMPERATURE EXPOSURE Comparing the Vintner s Choice 12 Bottle Lay Down Wine Shipper and an EPS 12 Bottle Upright Wine Shipper Report No. 111-09-1797A Rev. 1 Proposal No. 16631 Rev. C Customer Information Western Pulp Products Company Rick Hurley P.O. Box 968 Corvallis, OR 97339 Purpose of Testing The purpose of testing was to record the temperature inside the wine bottles during temperature testing (winter and summer profiles) based upon ISTA s Thermal Controlled Transport Packaging for Parcel Delivery System Shipment test procedure 7D 2007. Test Input Temperature Standard Referenced ISTA 7D-2007 Cyclic Test Profiles: For winter and summer transport conditions for international shipments from the United States. 72 hour International expedited airfreight transport
Product Information Product: Wine Bottles Quantity: 24 Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 2 of 19
Package Information Bottles Upright Shipper Internal Description Cushion system: Top-Bottom Expandable Polystyrene (PS) Trays Bottles on Side Shipper Internal Description Cushion system: Vintner s Choice 3-6-12 Lay Down Molded Fiber Trays Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 3 of 19
Package Information (Continued) External Description Shipper style: Regular Slotted Container (RSC) Shipper Number Shipper Material External Dimensions (in.) Weight (lb) Wine Bottles Orientation Upright 1 32 ECT Singlewall corrugated fiberboard 18.2 x 14.0 x 16.2 34.8 Side 2 44 ECT Singlewall corrugated fiberboard 18.9 x 12.4 x 14.2 35.8 Laboratory Information Test engineer: Katie Tran, Westpak, Inc. Test dates: September 10, 2009 through October 1, 2009 Westpak laboratory: San Jose, California Test Equipment and Instrumentation Please refer to Appendix I Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 4 of 19
Test Descriptions Test Preparation Two (2) thermocouples were placed inside each shipper (1 per wine bottle; 2 wine bottles per shipper); five thermocouples total. A hole was drilled into the cork of each wine bottle in order to place the thermocouple inside. While under test, the thermocouple sampled the temperature every 15 minutes during the conditioning profile. The fifth thermocouple was placed inside the chamber. Placement of the RTD sensors within the package systems is indicated below. Upright Bottles Shipper Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 5 of 19
Test Descriptions (Continued) Test Preparation (Continued) Bottles in Side Shipper Top Tray 3 rd Tray Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 6 of 19
Test Descriptions (Continued) Temperature Test Winter Profile Step Conditions Temp C Temp F Ramp hr:min Dwell hr:min 1 +23 +73 --:-- 00:01 2 +15 +59 00:08 24:00 3 +18 +64 00:03 04:00 4-10 +14 00:28 06:00 5 +10 +50 00:20 56:00 6-10 + 14 00:20 06:00 7 +23 +73 00:33 --:-- Summer Profile Step Conditions Temp C Temp F Ramp hr:min Dwell hr:min 1 +23 +73 --:-- 00:01 2 +15 +59 00:08 24:00 3 +22 +72 00:07 04:00 4 +35 +95 00:13 06:00 5 +30 +86 00:05 56:00 6 +35 +95 00:05 06:00 7 +23 +73 00:12 --:-- Notes: During the ambient conditioning dwell of the Winter Profile at +15 C, there was a power outage for approximately 90 minutes. During this time, the chamber and the temperature scanner were shut down. When the power resumed, the chamber continued with the conditioning profile. The temperature scanner was restarted and data collection resumed. The chart indicates only 24 hours dwell at +15 C but the boxes were conditioned for 25.5 hours. Westpak, Inc. is confident that the temperature remained steady during the power outage because the temperature did not change when the chamber resumed. Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 7 of 19
Results and Observations Test Input Observations Appendix Temperature Test No damage was noted to the exterior of the package systems following this test input. Please refer to Graphs 1 and 2 for more details. II Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 8 of 19
Graph 1 Winter Profile Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 9 of 19
Graph 2 Summer Profile Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 10 of 19
Graph 3 Temperature Difference between Material Types Summer Profile Location: Corner Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 11 of 19
Graph 4 Temperature Difference between Material Types Summer Profile Location: Center Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 12 of 19
Graph 5 Temperature Difference between Material Types Winter Profile Location: Corner Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 13 of 19
Graph 6 Temperature Difference between Material Types Winter Profile Location: Center Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 14 of 19
Conclusions and Recommendations Two (2) package systems containing 12-Pack Wine Bottles were subjected to temperature testing per ISTA 7D-2007, Cyclic Test Profile for winter and summer transport conditions for international shipments from the United States (72 hour International expedited airfreight transport). According to the winter and the summer thermal mapping data, there was little difference between the 12 bottle upright EPS wine shipper and the 12 bottom lay down wine shipper. The thermal properties of these two package types are similar as depicted in the graphs. Some slight resistance to heat transfer was noted at the center of the EPS package system, however, both packages attained equilibrium in less than a 12 hour period. The insulating characteristics of both package systems are considered to be equal regardless of location of the bottle within the package system. The test results and findings provided are only applicable to the unique materials tested. Because of the differing geometries, material thicknesses, and compositions of molded fiber wine shippers, and the cartons, it would not be appropriate to attribute the performance of the products tested to other products. Upon completion of this test procedure, the samples were returned to Western Pulp Products Company for final evaluation. The results of this evaluation are not known by Westpak, Inc. at this time. WESTPAK, INC. is pleased to present this report to Western Pulp Products Company covering the temperature testing of the 12-Pack Wine Bottles. The equipment used to conduct this testing has been recently calibrated and is known to be in good operating condition. In addition, the test operator uses good laboratory practice at all times. Therefore, the data is considered accurate and reliable. However, there is no warranty expressed or implied with the submission of this report, and Western Pulp Products Company assumes all liability for use of the data contained herein. Respectfully submitted, WESTPAK, INCORPORATED Reviewed By Katie Tran Wil J. Caday October 1, 2009 October 1, 2009 Mark Escobedo October 7, 2009 Rev. 1 October 7, 2009 Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 15 of 19
APPENDIX I EQUIPMENT and INSTRUMENTATION Instrumentation & Equipment Westpak TM Last Calibration Model No. No. Date Agilent 20-Channel Multiplexer Card 773 34901A 1/15/2009 Dell PC 843 Dell Optiplex GX240 Not required Enseco Temperature and Humidity Chamber 332 ETH 27-40-25 Not required Vaisala RH Probe 330 HMM30C 11/12/2008 Honeywell Chart Recorder 468 DR45AT 11/12/2008 Watlow Controller 753 F4 11/12/2008 Note: All calibration conducted annually on instrumentation only Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 16 of 19
APPENDIX II CONDITIONING CHART Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 17 of 19
Winter Profile Chamber: Ernie Test Dates: 09/10/09 09/14/09 Temperature ºC Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 18 of 19
Summer Profile Chamber: Ernie Test Dates: 09/10/09 09/14/09 Temperature ºC Report No. 111-09-1797A-R1 Page 19 of 19