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Novel Advances in Refrigeration Systems and Packaging Solutions: Impact in...
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Novel Advances in Refrigeration Systems and Packaging Solutions: Impact in Climate Change and Food Products

A special issue of Climate (ISSN 2225-1154).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 20303

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Pedro Dinis Gaspar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
C-MAST-Center for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
Interests: industrial engineering and management; decision support systems; occupational health and safety; energy efficiency; thermal performance; robotics; artificial intelligence; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food refrigeration systems and packaging solutions are a part of our everyday life. However, the former are large consumers of electrical energy for the conservation of perishable food productions. Additionally, the climate impact of refrigerants used in these systems are a major concern of world governments and society. Packaging solutions still use materials that have an environmental impact, either by their non-recyclability or due to their environmental impact resulting from the life cycle of recycling solutions. Thus, consideration of the interconnection between these topics is now required by all parties in order to restrain the future impact on climate change. To improve the efficiency of food refrigeration technologies and packaging solutions, it is necessary to explore new technological and scientific advances in materials and fluids, processes, and systems. The scope of this Special Issue focuses on the current research accomplishments and the various approaches used to optimize the operation, performance, efficiency, and feasibility of refrigeration systems by experimental, numerical, or analytical techniques, and includes the review of challenges for the optimization and development to extend the usage of these systems with low climate impact. Research on materials, technologies, and novel approaches to services, as well as on procedures to extend the shelf life of food products and simultaneously improve their life cycle is determinant for reducing the influence of food packaging on climate change and the influence of climate change on food products. Therefore, we invite the submission of papers on topics including but not limited to innovative technical developments, experimental studies, numerical modelling, reviews, case studies, analyses, as well as assessments, future prospects, and suggestions of potential approaches on emerging technological solutions which are relevant for further improvements to food refrigeration systems and sustainable packaging solutions.

Prof. Dr. Pedro Dinis Gaspar
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • refrigeration
  • packaging
  • food
  • life cycle assessment
  • refrigerants
  • energy
  • heat transfer
  • numerical
  • experimental
  • materials
  • eco-design
  • recycling
  • operation
  • performance
  • efficiency
  • feasibility
  • optimization
  • development
  • challenges
  • best practices
  • guideline
  • shelf life
  • contamination
  • food quality
  • food safety
  • sustainability
  • climate change
  • climate impact
  • ecological
  • biodegradable
  • compostable
  • waste
  • active packaging
  • intelligent packaging
  • circular economy

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 2513 KiB  
Article
Mini Containers to Improve the Cold Chain Energy Efficiency and Carbon Footprint
by Mahmmoud Muhammed Syam, Samantha Cabrera-Calderon, Kishorre Annanth Vijayan, Vignesh Balaji, Patrick E. Phelan and Jesus Rene Villalobos
Climate 2022, 10(5), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10050076 - 23 May 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4449
Abstract
The cold chain—the system of refrigerated storage and transport that provides fresh produce or other essentials to be maintained at desired temperatures and environmental conditions—is responsible for substantial energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and failures in the cold chain lead to [...] Read more.
The cold chain—the system of refrigerated storage and transport that provides fresh produce or other essentials to be maintained at desired temperatures and environmental conditions—is responsible for substantial energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and failures in the cold chain lead to food and energy waste. Here, we introduce the mini container concept as an alternative to conventional reefers, particularly for small growers. Mini containers are relatively small, insulated boxes, with environmental conditions controlled by an electric-powered central driving unit, which can be aggregated as needed and transported by non-refrigerated trucks and trailers. We analyze the energy consumption and GHG emissions for the transport of tomatoes in two cities representing contrasting climates, Phoenix, Arizona, and Chicago, Illinois, for conventional reefers and the proposed mini containers. These two cities provide the opportunity to compare the energy consumption and GHG emissions for the proposed mini containers versus conventional refrigerated transport under extremely different climate conditions. The results show that, as expected in both cases, as the ambient air temperature increases, the energy consumption and GHG emissions also increase. For partial reefer loads less than 72% and 85% for Phoenix and Chicago, respectively, the use of the mini containers reduces energy consumption and GHG emissions because of the reduced volume requiring refrigeration. In general, since the mini containers are fully electrified, their corresponding GHG emissions can be dramatically reduced, and since the fresh produce can be pre-cooled with renewable energy, GHG emissions can even be eliminated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Advances in Refrigeration Systems and Packaging Solutions: Impact in Climate Change and Food Products)
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23 pages, 4578 KiB  
Article
Fuzzy Logic Decision Support System to Predict Peaches Marketable Period at Highest Quality
by Bianca Magalhães, Pedro Dinis Gaspar, Ana Corceiro, Luzolo João and César Bumba
Climate 2022, 10(3), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10030029 - 22 Feb 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3199
Abstract
Food waste occurs from harvesting to consumption. Applying procedures and technologies, changing attitudes, and promoting awareness have positive social, economic, and environmental impacts that can contribute to reducing food waste. The paper presents a decision support system (DSS) to predict the quality evolution [...] Read more.
Food waste occurs from harvesting to consumption. Applying procedures and technologies, changing attitudes, and promoting awareness have positive social, economic, and environmental impacts that can contribute to reducing food waste. The paper presents a decision support system (DSS) to predict the quality evolution of fruits and vegetables, particularly of peaches, and estimate its commercialization period at the highest overall perceived quality by consumers, thus contributing to reducing food waste. The Fuzzy Logic DSS predicts the evolution of the physical-chemical parameters of peaches (hardness, soluble solids content, and acidity) depending on the cultivar (Royal Summer and Royal Time), storage time, and temperature. As the range of the values of these physical-chemical parameters of peaches that consumers perceive to be at their highest quality are known, the DSS predicts the marketable period in days. Case studies were developed to analyze the influence of each physical-chemical parameter on the commercialization days (number and time to start). It is concluded that temperature is the most important parameter for fruit conservation. A low value of conservation temperature allows for the significant extension of the time that peaches can be sold at the highest quality. Hardness is used to determine the harvest date since it is an index of fruit ripeness. The same conclusion is obtained for the influence of the soluble solids content. The influence of acidity on marketable days is less than the other physical-chemical parameters. This DSS helps retailers to sell their peaches at the highest quality with benefits for all parties. It also helps in the decision-making concerning the actions to take when fruits are reaching the end of their highest quality by predicting the range of the commercialization days. This formulation can be extended to other fruits and vegetables and in the last instance contribute to the reduction of food loss and waste, consequently promoting social, economic, and environmental aspects of our daily life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Advances in Refrigeration Systems and Packaging Solutions: Impact in Climate Change and Food Products)
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14 pages, 944 KiB  
Article
Ecoenergetic Comparison of HVAC Systems in Data Centers
by Alexandre F. Santos, Pedro D. Gaspar and Heraldo J. L. de Souza
Climate 2021, 9(3), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9030042 - 4 Mar 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3785
Abstract
The topic of sustainability is of high importance today. Global efforts such as the Montreal Protocol (1987) and the Kigali Amendment (2016) are examples of joint work by countries to reduce environmental impacts and improve the level of the ozone layer, the choice [...] Read more.
The topic of sustainability is of high importance today. Global efforts such as the Montreal Protocol (1987) and the Kigali Amendment (2016) are examples of joint work by countries to reduce environmental impacts and improve the level of the ozone layer, the choice of refrigerants and air conditioning systems, which is essential for this purpose. But what indicators are to be used to measure something so necessary? In this article, the types of air conditioning and GWP (Global Warming Potential) levels of equipment in the project phase were discussed, the issue of TEWI (Total Equivalent Warming Impact) that measures the direct and indirect environmental impacts of refrigeration equipment and air conditioning and a new methodology for the indicator was developed, the TEWI DC (DC is the direct application for Data Center), and using the formulas of this new adapted indicator it was demonstrated that the TEWI DC for Chicago (USA) was 2,784,102,640 kg CO2/10 years and Curitiba (Brazil) is 1,252,409,640 kg CO2/10 years. This difference in value corresponds to 222.30% higher annual emissions in Chicago than in Curitiba, showing that it is much more advantageous to install a Data Center in Curitiba than in Chicago in terms of environmental impact. The TEWI indicator provides a more holistic view, helping to combine energy and emissions into the same indicator. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Advances in Refrigeration Systems and Packaging Solutions: Impact in Climate Change and Food Products)
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13 pages, 3751 KiB  
Article
New Data Center Performance Index: Perfect Design Data Center—PDD
by Alexandre F. Santos, Pedro D. Gaspar and Heraldo J. L. de Souza
Climate 2020, 8(10), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli8100110 - 4 Oct 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4361
Abstract
Data Centers (DC) are specific buildings that require large infrastructures to store all the information needed by companies. All data transmitted over the network is stored on CDs. By the end of 2020, Data Centers will grow 53% worldwide. There are methodologies that [...] Read more.
Data Centers (DC) are specific buildings that require large infrastructures to store all the information needed by companies. All data transmitted over the network is stored on CDs. By the end of 2020, Data Centers will grow 53% worldwide. There are methodologies that measure the efficiency of energy consumption. The most used metric is the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) index, but it does not fully reflect efficiency. Three DC’s located at the cities of Curitiba, Londrina and Iguaçu Falls (Brazil) with close PUE values, are evaluated in this article using the Energy Usage Effectiveness Design (EUED) index as an alternative to the current method. EUED uses energy as a comparative element in the design phase. Infrastructure consumption is the sum of energy with Heating, Ventilating and Air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, equipment, lighting and others. The EUED values obtained were 1.245 (kWh/yr)/(kWh/yr), 1.313 (kWh/yr)/(kWh/yr) and 1.316 (kWh/yr)/(kWh/yr) to Curitiba, Londrina and Iguaçu Falls, respectively. The difference between the EUED and the PUE Constant External Air Temperature (COA) is 16.87% for Curitiba, 13.33% for Londrina and 13.30% for Iguaçu Falls. The new Perfect Design Data center (PDD) index prioritizes efficiency in increasing order is an easy index to interpret. It is a redefinition of EUED, given by a linear equation, which provides an approximate result and uses a classification table. It is a decision support index for the location of a Data Center in the project phase. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Advances in Refrigeration Systems and Packaging Solutions: Impact in Climate Change and Food Products)
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17 pages, 1194 KiB  
Review
Potential for More Sustainable Energy Usage in the Postharvest Handling of Horticultural Produce through Management of Ethylene
by Ron Baden Howe Wills
Climate 2021, 9(10), 147; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9100147 - 28 Sep 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3030
Abstract
The perishable nature of fruit and vegetables requires some technological intervention to maintain quality during handling and marketing. The technology of choice for many years has been use of low temperatures as it is effective in reducing metabolism and hence extend postharvest life. [...] Read more.
The perishable nature of fruit and vegetables requires some technological intervention to maintain quality during handling and marketing. The technology of choice for many years has been use of low temperatures as it is effective in reducing metabolism and hence extend postharvest life. However, refrigerated storage is energy intensive and the growing urgency to reduce international greenhouse gas emissions has created a need for technologies that are more environmentally sustainable but still acceptable to consumers. Ethylene is well known to promote ripening and senescence of fruit and vegetables. This presentation will review the existing data that support the potential for managing the concentration of ethylene in the atmosphere around produce in postharvest situations to allow a reduced reliance on refrigeration and thus reduce energy consumption. Methods for managing ethylene levels around produce, and barriers that need to be overcome in order to move from a temperature-based mindset are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Advances in Refrigeration Systems and Packaging Solutions: Impact in Climate Change and Food Products)
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