Abstract
The cold chain is responsible for perishable products preservation and transportation, maintaining a proper temperature to slow biological decay processes. Often the efficiency of the cold chain is less than ideal, significantly increasing food waste and energy consumption. Refrigerated transport is a critical phase of the cold chain because of its negative impact on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that around 15% of global fossil fuel energy is used in the refrigerated transport sector, so there has been a growing interest in the last decades in the optimization of these systems in order to reduce their environmental impact. Vapor compression refrigeration units, usually powered by means of a diesel engine, are the most commonly used systems in road refrigerated transport. This paper provides a review of (a) currently used systems and alternative technologies that could reduce the environmental impacts of road refrigerated transport and (b) optimization models and methods used to minimize fuel/energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, focusing both on reducing the thermal loads and solving the refrigerated vehicle routing problem.
Highlights
The growing need to ensure the preservation of perishable goods, together with the widespread use of refrigeration systems since the twentieth century, has led to an ever-increasing interest in the process that is commonly called the “cold chain”
Results show that the MM-Combined Refrigeration and Power Cycle (CRPC) system allows an increase in electrical energy production and a reduction in fuel consumption respectively of +4.8% and −2.9% at an evaporation temperature of 0 ◦C, and +1.6% and −3.4% at an evaporation temperature of −20 ◦C
The total energy consumption, including the additional weight and power consumed by the second compressor contributions, accounts for 14.4% of the engine power output to realize refrigeration
Summary
The growing need to ensure the preservation of perishable goods (foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals or similar products), together with the widespread use of refrigeration systems since the twentieth century, has led to an ever-increasing interest in the process that is commonly called the “cold chain”. This expression indicates the path, from the producer to the consumer, followed by the products that need to be maintained at a controlled temperature. The cold chain can be divided into five main phases: 1. Transport ( present among other phases); 4.
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