EMPIRICAL AIRFLOW PATTERN DETERMINATION OF REFRIGERATED BANANA CONTAINERS USING THERMAL FLOW SENSORS

Inadequate or irregular ventilation in refrigerated containers leads to inhomogeneous temperature distribution in transported foods, which creates hotspots. Hotspots result in loss of food quality and decrease of monetary value of food. Therefore, understanding the behavior of airflow inside refrigerated containers and establishing its relationship to temperature help realize the areas prone to hotspot creation. In order to measure the distributed airflow speed in gaps in containers, a special wireless airflow sensor was designed and produced using a thermal flow sensor. The field trials were carried out in a specially equipped refrigerated container partially filled with bananas, under the Intelligent Container project. The preliminary results presented in this paper show the measurements done in various gaps of the container and how the air flow varies from the reefer side to the door side.

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