No abstract

Energy is a major cost in the operation of food cold stores. Work has shown that considerable energy savings can be achieved in cold stores. Results from 38 cold store audits carried out across Europe are presented.\ud \ud Substantial savings could be achieved if operation of cold storage facilities were optimised in terms of heat loads on the rooms and the operation of the refrigeration system. Many improvements identified were low in cost (improved door protection, defrost optimisation, control settings and repairs). In large stores (> 100 m3) most improvements identified were cost effective and had short pay back times, whereas in small stores there were fewer energy saving options that had realistic payback times. The potential for large energy savings of at minimum 8% and at maximum 72% were identified by optimising usage of stores, repairing current equipment and by retrofitting of energy efficient equipment. Often these improvements had short payback times of less than 1 year.\ud \ud In each facility the options to reduce energy consumption varied. This indicated that to fully identify the maximum energy savings, recommendations need to be specific to a particular plant. General recommendations cannot fully exploit the energy savings available and therefore to maximise energy savings it is essential to monitor and analyse data from each facility

Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs) have already found application in some specialist applications where minimal energy consumption is important and space is at a premium. This paper investigates the feasibility of widespread application of VIPs in the cold chain by embedding them into the polyurethane (PU) foamed walls of traditional refrigerator and freezer cabinets. Thermal modelling of the insulation of a range of typical refrigerator and freezer cabinets as used throughout the cold chain was carried out both with and without VIPs embedded in the insulating walls. The potential energy savings and payback times were then calculated; for refrigerators the average payback was 9.7 years, for freezers it was 4.5 years.

Background: Postoperative biomechanics after hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) are an outcome of interest, but correlation with patient-reported outcomes (PROs) remains unclear. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation between changes in hip biomechanics in FAIS patients after hip arthroscopy and changes in PRO scores. We hypothesized that gait analysis would demonstrate significant correlations between pre- and postoperative changes in biomechanics and changes in PRO scores. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: FAIS patients without dysplasia or arthritis who underwent primary hip arthroscopy for labral repair and femoroplasty underwent preoperative and 1-year postoperative 3-dimensional motion tracking and biomechanical testing during normal gait. Joint kinematics calculated included flexion/extension (sagittal plane), abduction/adduction (frontal plane), and internal/external rotation (transverse plane). Peak hip angles and moments were compared between baseline and 1-year postoperative measures. At baseline, 1-year, and 2-year postoperatively, patients completed the following PRO surveys: 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), and Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS). Joint kinematics that significantly improved 1 year after surgery were assessed for correlations with PRO scores. Results: A total of 10 patients (12 hips) were enrolled prospectively. PROs significantly improved at 1 and 2 years postoperatively compared with baseline values for HOOS, mHHS, and SF-12 Physical Component Score, with all patients achieving the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) on the HOOS Sport/Recreation and Quality of Life subscales. From preoperatively to 1-year postoperatively, significant improvements were seen in peak hip abduction angle (from −2.3° ± 1.8° to −4.6° ± 1.8°; P = .0058) and peak hip extension moment (from −1.03 ± 0.19 to −0.85 ± 0.20 N·m/kg; P = .014); however, there were no significant correlations between these changes and the pre- to postoperative changes on any PRO scores. Conclusion: Gait analysis of FAIS patients after hip arthroscopy demonstrated small, albeit significant, changes in postoperative hip kinetics and kinematics; however, these changes did not correlate with the large, clinically significant improvements in PROs at 1 year after surgery. Clinical Relevance: The results of this study suggest that the degree of improvement in short-term PROs after hip arthroscopy for FAIS may not be related to small changes in biomechanics postoperatively.

The ICE-E model is a user-friendly tool that allows cold store operators to predict the energy consumption of their stores as heat loads vary due to changes in ambient conditions and store usage patterns. Weather data and construction and usage details are used to predict heat load and refrigeration COP on an hourly basis over a whole year. The model was validated against the industry standard CoolPack model and the features of the models were compared. The ICE-E model is better suited to non-technical cold store users who may not know details such as U-values, air change rates, respiration rates, condensing and evaporating temperatures, and it has additional features such as the ability to change efficiencies of lights and fans. It can help users to identify which cold store features and operating parameters have the greatest impact on energy consumption, and assess the scope for measures aimed at reducing it.