Refrigerated Transport: State of the Art, Technical Issues, Innovations and Challenges for Sustainability

Abstract

The cold chain is responsible for perishable products preservation and transportation, maintaining a proper temperature to slow biological decay processes. Often the efficiency of the cold chain is less than ideal, significantly increasing food waste and energy consumption. Refrigerated transport is a critical phase of the cold chain because of its negative impact on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that around 15% of global fossil fuel energy is used in the refrigerated transport sector, so there has been a growing interest in the last decades in the optimization of these systems in order to reduce their environmental impact. Vapor compression refrigeration units, usually powered by means of a diesel engine, are the most commonly used systems in road refrigerated transport. This paper provides a review of (a) currently used systems and alternative technologies that could reduce the environmental impacts of road refrigerated transport and (b) optimization models and methods used to minimize fuel/energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, focusing both on reducing the thermal loads and solving the refrigerated vehicle routing problem.

Emvolio - A battery operated portable refrigerator preserves biochemical and haematological integrity of biological samples in preclinical studies

“…This helps retain the coolness for a more extended period. Styrofoam with an extremely low density of 890-910 kg/m, 3 when packed in between two plastic walls of polypropylene box, the cooling effect will be better. Further, polypropylene is a low density, chemical resistant, non-corrosive, high temperature resistant biodegradable material.…”

“…1 Due to the highly sensitive nature of the biologicals to environmental conditions like heat and moisture, samples such as blood, serum, saliva, tissue, and organ samples are utilized in the hospital and medical industry to diagnose and experiment for preclinical or clinical studies. 2,3 The international agency for research on cancer (IARC) describe the storage conditions for different biologicals. 4 The guidelines for the transportation and preservation of biological products are as per the National Institute of Health (NIH), International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER), 5 Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).…”

Emvolio - A battery operated portable refrigerator preserves biochemical and haematological integrity of biological samples in preclinical studies

“…Collection, storage and transportation of biologicals has become the chief investment by industry, academia and public research organizations 1 . Due to the highly sensitive nature of the biologicals to environmental conditions like heat and moisture, samples such as blood, serum, saliva, tissue, and organ samples are utilized in the hospital and medical industry to diagnose and experiment for preclinical or clinical studies 2,3 . The international agency for research on cancer (IARC) describe the storage conditions for different biologicals 4 .…”

A Comprehensive Energy Model for an Optimal Design of a Hybrid Refrigerated Van

“…Solar refrigeration technology comprises a compound system in which solar power produces cooling [18]. Solar PV cooling (also known as solar-assisted vapor compression refrigeration) shall consist of four essential components: PV modules, a battery, an inverter circuit, and a vapor compression system.…”