Optimisation of package design for citrus fruit is required to increase the throughput, by reducing the precooling time, and to enhance fruit quality by providing fast and uniform cooling without inducing chilling injury. The cooling performance of an existing container and of two new containers (Supervent and Ecopack), as stacked on a pallet, was evaluated experimentally and numerically, with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The accuracy of
The performance of an existing container for orange fruit and two new designs, stacked on a pallet, has been evaluated for forced-convective precooling using computational fluid dynamics. The focus was on the fruit cooling rate and the system energy consumption in relation to cooling conditions (airflow rate and cooling temperature). The new package designs both showed an improved cooling rate and cooling uniformity, although this improvement is to some extent dependent on the cooling system that is used, which should also be taken into account when evaluating package design. The energy required to maintain airflow through the containers during the precooling process was also less for the new containers due to their lower aerodynamic resistance. These new containers seem a cost-effective way for improving forced-convective precooling of orange fruit with respect to throughput, fruit quality and operational cost of the system. In this study, basic information on the containers was obtained to guide future cold-chain design decisions and changes to existing cooling protocols or cooling systems.
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