Ventilation System for Closed Containers

Most docks use a arm mounted fan that's up high and out of the way. So the fan head can be turned for optimal air flow. Which is not as you have yours set up. The best dock fans are the tube axial fans. The air is more directional.

What you have will work if you get it up out of the way of the work so it can be turned. As close to the trailer as possible. Turn it so it's pointed almost straight into the trailer. turned slightly towards the wall of the trailer on the side the fans on.

My first thought was that this looks a lot like the entrance to a coal mine.

Coal mines can get very hot and stuffy. What has that industry used for ventilation that could be used on a temporay basis for this application?

You might want to use a ventilation conduit with a fan hanging from the ceiling. The air would blow into the container in the conduit and out the door. Pair it with some moisture and it makes an excellent aircondition.

Try using a confined space blower.

The desire is to move the hot air out, and keep the air moving.

The hose would be dragged to the back of the container keeping a constant flow of fresh air along the entire length of the container.

See this.

Also look into sunshades. Direct sunshine can heat up metal enclosures and raise the temperature inside far higher than just the ambient temperature.

It doesn't need to be anything fancy, a large tarp to block the direct sunlight may just be enough, as long as there is a large enough air gap between it and the container. Cheap too.

We have a pod in the direct sunlight here in Arizona.

Ambient air temp is 103°F. Concrete slab is 118°F. Inside roof of the pod 144°F.

Cut some holes in the end and install a big misting fan to blow through the container.

Two ideas:

1) Get some roller pallets so the material can be loaded onto the back of the container, then pushed to the front when the next load of material is ready. That way no one has to go into the container to load it. (There are LOTS of versions available.)

2) Work to load the container(s) only in the early morning hours before the sun gets up too high in the sky. Have all the material ready at the end of one day, to be loaded the following morning.

Here is one example of a roller pallet and a link to other roller pallet images on google:

roller+pallets

How about a tube-axial fan blowing into a sheet-plastic tube extending beneath the roller frames to near the back of the container?

You don't need to cool the trailer, you need to cool the workers....there are several personal cooling devices on the market.....

http://www.coolshirt.com/

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/04/coolware-personal-cooling-system/

http://www.designlaunches.com/gadgets/personal_cooling_system_that_keeps_you_cooled_on_the_go_by_jeanmarc_sheitoyan.php

http://www.veskimo.com/cooling-hydration-backpack-system.html

Just a sampling of the hundreds of products available....

Sorry, but this is a joke: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/04/coolware-personal-cooling-system/

The only thing it does is restrict the blood flow the the brain. Don't waste your money. I tried it once and sent it back.

The others are way beyond the budget of this operation, I think.

These are just examples of personal cooling devices....there is no one size fits all approach here....but there are 100's of these devices in many configurations....The idea here is to cool the workers not the trailer....Let's face it, anything that will cool the trailer effectively will not be cheap, no mere fan is going to work unless you open both ends...Put some ice cubes in a towel and wrap it around your neck and you will see this helps to cool down when overheated.....

These misting fans aren't cheap at $1500...

You can consider to use tube axial fan. These fans are suitable to handle large air volume and can be used where noise level consideration s are not important. Also portable acs are available in market. You can consider to use it to reduce the temperature inside the container during loading time.

Has any friend picture of such tube axial fan with duct going to inside of container for a better idea? Please share.

We are thinking to get the tube axial fan with flexible pipe as mentioned below. We shall put the pipe in container which will be reached at almost half of the container. In this way air can be circulated throughout the container. Any comments?