Airflow, heat and mass transfer in a cold room filled with food products: comparison of experimental, CFD and simplified approaches

摘要

Temperature and moisture heterogeneity, with non-uniform airflow in cold room was observed inrnseveral studies. This heterogeneity can lead to deterioration of food quality and safety. Heat and massrntransfer in cold room is a complex phenomenon because of the presence of the product (airflowrnobstacle, heat of respiration…) and the coupling between heat transfer and airflow. Temperaturernmeasurements were carried out in a ventilated cold room filled with four apple pallets. The frontrnpallets were submitted to higher air temperatures compared to the rear ones, leading to heterogeneityrnin product cooling rate and product temperature. Numerical (CFD) and simplified modellingrnapproaches were developed to describe the evolution and distribution of air and product temperature inrnthe cold room. Good agreement between the numerical and experimental results was found for bothrntransient phase (product cooling) and stationary phase in terms of temperature.