Simulation of energy use by controlled atmosphere generation equipment in fruit cold storages.
Boonprasom, P. and Hellickson, M. L.
Postharvest Horticulture Series - Department of Pomology, University of California Year: 1997 Issue: No. 15 Pages: 56-63 Ref: 4 ref.
1997
บทคัดย่อ
A computer simulation program, Controlled Atmosphere Simulation (CAS), was written to account for all energy sources and uses in a commercial fruit store. Room pull-down time models for 3 types of atmosphere generator (a membrane air separator, an ammonia fractioning burner and a catalytic oxygen burner) were developed and electrical energy use in a fruit store was simulated using the room pull-down time and power demand of the controlled atmosphere equipment. Predicted results from CAS were input into an interactive computer program Fruit Storage Refrigeration Energy Simulation (FruSTRES), which was developed to simulate energy use by cold storage ammonia refrigeration systems. The resulting model package was then used to predict overall annual energy use in fruit stores, based on number and size of rooms, construction, equipment operation, commodity stored, storage period and weather conditions. The CAS accurately predicted the pull-down time of each type of equipment under normal operation. H
owever, the respiration models used for apples and pears in this study were developed from published data from fruits held in air storage and measured cooling temperature profiles. It is suggested that to obtain more accurate results, respiration data of each apple and pear cultivar measured under controlled atmosphere conditions should be used if available. The resulting model package (CAS and FruSTRES), constitutes an invaluable tool for the design and analyses of ammonia refrigeration and atmosphere generation systems used in CA and other fruit stores.