Energy management of precooling process for green cabbages

Abstract

Cold storage is one of the most widely used and effective processes to preserve shelf-life harvested agricultural products during long periods. Research to date has not yet determined the energy management of pre-cooling methods of green cabbage. This study seeks to investigate the cooling performance of the cold storage, keeping green cabbages with good quality and to report different pre-cooling strategies. The cold storage specifications included 15 HP compressor with a voltage of 380 V, a temperature range of -50 to 50°C, and R22 refrigerant. The mass of green cabbage was examined with three values of 30, 40, and 50 kg. Moreover, the pre-cooling strategies of the green cabbages were divided into four scenarios including the parallel pattern in the front zone, staggered pattern in the front zone, parallel pattern in the back zone, and staggered pattern in the back zone. The experimental results revealed that the coefficient of performance (henceforth COP) was significantly affected by the mass of the cabbage and cooling zone of the cold storage. While the pattern in case of 30 kg cabbage precooling had a slight effect on cooling performance due to the lower density arrangement and heat extraction. The highest COP appeared at the 30 kg cabbage precooling with the strategy of staggered pattern in the front zone. The COP value was 2.61.

Effects of the precooling process on the preservation of fresh‐cut durian

“…A low cooling temperature resulted in a low COP, whereas a high cooling temperature resulted in a high COP, proving that the COP is directly proportional to the cooling temperature. This was similar to the experimental results of Naemsai et al (2021). From the experimental results mentioned above, it can be concluded that the system had the highest COP at 6°C cooling temperature compared to 3.5 and 1°C.…”

“…The COP is the ratio between the heat energy the system can extract ( Q ) to the electrical energy ( W ) consumed by the cooling system. Naemsai et al (2021) studied the precooling characteristics and COP of green cabbage. It was found that the COP depends on the cooling temperature, arrangement pattern and quantity of products.…”

“…The HTC can predict the time required to reduce the temperature by half and the time taken to cool the product, whereas the COP is used to determine the efficiency of the cooling system. A higher COP indicates greater efficiency, reduced power consumption (W), and consequently lower operating costs (Naemsai et al, 2021). As shown in Equation (1), it can be calculated from the ratio between the amount of heat extracted ( Q ) and the amount of electrical power used ( W ): …”

“…Low energy consumption and a high coefficient of performance are necessary for the cooling system to attain an acceptable level under the coefficiency of performance (COP). To acquire a comprehensive understanding of performance, Naemsai et al (2021) analyzed the temperature decrease and COP for cooling green cabbage arranged in various patterns and under varying loads (product weight). It was discovered that cabbage mass and a cold storage chilling zone significantly impacted COP.…”