Abstract
A research tool previously developed to investigate air distribution in horticultural producecontainers during forced-air precooling was used to determine the effect of airflow rate and openingconfiguration on air pressure drop and rate and uniformity of cooling process. Further analysisperformed on previously tested opening configurations determined their influence on energyefficiency. A system efficiency coefficient, consisting of the overall Energy Added Ratio (EAR) wasdemonstrated as a functional tool during the container design, since it considers peculiarities of theforced-air cooling system and produce physiology.<br><br>The results obtained for containers with handling openings and 2, 4, 8, and 16% opening areawere used to evaluate the additional energy required to remove the heat generated by the forced-airfan and produce respiration. These results were also compared to produce in bulk and to producepacked in containers having 4-0.5%-holes in the corners to analyze the influence of hole positioning.A four large 0.5% opening configuration results in poor energy performance and cooling uniformitywhen compared to uniformly distributed smaller holes. Furthermore, the airflow rate could beoptimized based on the respiration rate of the produce and container opening area.
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