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.