In maritime refrigerated containers air is drawn from just below the ceiling into the refrigeration unit,where it is cooled to the desired temperature and then supplied into 60 mm high longitudinal T-bars,which make up the container floor. Cargo temperatures at the door-end are usually 2 °C higher thanthe supply air temperature. A better air flow distribution could improve the temperature uniformity. Inearlier work four different air flow enhancing floor cover shapes were tested in a climate chamber.The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the best of those four air flow enhancing floorcovers in a field experiment with commercial container shipments from South Africa to TheNetherlands. Three test containers contained that air flow enhancing floor cover, three referencecontainers did not. All other parameters were, to the extent possible, the same for all containers.Based on the test results it is concluded that the tested air flow enhancing floor cover reduces thedifference between the warmest and the coldest cargo temperature in shipments of precooled grapesby approximately 30%.
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