Artículo de revista
Investigation Into Air Distribution Systems And Thermal Environment Control In Chilled Food Processing Facilities
Enquête Sur Les Systèmes De Distribution D'air Et La Régulation De L'environnement Thermique Dans Les Installations De Traitement Des Aliments Réfrigérés
Registro en:
01407007
Corporación Universidad de la Costa
REDICUC - Repositorio CUC
Autor
Parpas, Demetris
Amaris Castilla, Carlos Fidel
Tassou, Savvas A.
Institución
Resumen
Air flow distribution in chilled food facilities plays a critical role not only in maintaining the required food products temperature but also because of its impact on the facility energy consumption and CO2 emissions. This paper presents an investigation of the thermal environment in existing food manufacturing facilities, with different air distribution systems including supply/return diffusers and fabric ducts, by means of both in-situ measurements and 3D CFD simulations. Measurements and CFD simulations showed that the fabric duct provides a better environment in the processing area in terms of even and low air flow if compared to that with the diffusers. Moreover, temperature stratification was identified as a key factor to be improved to reduce the energy use for the space cooling. Further modelling proved that air temperature stratification improves by relocating the fabric ducts at a medium level. This resulted in a temperature gradient increase up to 4.1 °C in the unoccupied zone.