Preliminary evaluation on specific energy consumption of refrigerated trucks in Thailand’s cold chain used for national energy policy planning

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the suggested specific energy consumption (SEC) of refrigerated trucks in the cold chain in Thailand. Types of refrigerated trucks were classified following the regulations of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand and the Department of Land Transport, the Ministry of Transport, Thailand. The fuel consumption, weight, distance traveled, and other data were recorded on 50 refrigerated trucks operating in practice. The SEC was calculated following the European Standard EN 16212:2012. The relationship between the SEC and the ratio between good weight and maximum allowance load weight or called as the weight ratio for each truck type was established in a power function. The suggested SEC for each truck type at a certain weight ratio could be determined from this relationship. The lowest SEC or the target for the best energy saving practice was determined at the weight ratio of 1.0. In addition, the comparison found that the international small-sized truck had lower SEC than the 4-wheeler truck in Thailand. Therefore, the domestic 4-wheeler refrigerated trucks should be the primary target for the government to enforce the cold chain energy saving plan.