Design and Research of a New Cold Storage: The Phase-Temperature Storage (PTS) to Reduce Evaporator Frosting
This paper introduces a novel cold storage: phase-temperature storage, which is characterized by its distinctive coupling jacket structure that connects the sub-storehouse units to the main storehouse. This innovative design facilitates heat transfer while effectively inhibiting mass transfer. Exper...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Foods |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/9/1592 |
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| author | Lihua Duan Yanli Zheng Yunbin Jiang Wenhan Li Limei Li Bin Liu Bin Li Xihong Li |
| author_facet | Lihua Duan Yanli Zheng Yunbin Jiang Wenhan Li Limei Li Bin Liu Bin Li Xihong Li |
| author_sort | Lihua Duan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper introduces a novel cold storage: phase-temperature storage, which is characterized by its distinctive coupling jacket structure that connects the sub-storehouse units to the main storehouse. This innovative design facilitates heat transfer while effectively inhibiting mass transfer. Experimental results indicate that polyethylene film, with a thermal conductivity of 0.42 W/m·K, is a more suitable material for constructing sub-storehouses. Enhancing the surface area of the sub-storehouse and increasing convective wind speed are identified as key factors for improving convective heat transfer within the sub-storehouse. Moreover, the optimized design ensures a more uniform temperature distribution inside the sub-storehouse. In contrast to conventional cold storage, the defrosting unit in phase-temperature storage consumes only 5.72 units of energy under equivalent conditions, compared to 154.02 units for conventional cold storage. This demonstrates that the energy expenditure during the defrosting process of phase temperature storage is less than 4% of that required by conventional cold storage, achieving an energy savings rate exceeding 96%. Under identical circumstances, conventional cold storage consumes a total of 36.359 units of electrical energy for defrosting, with 34.231 units being released as defrosting waste heat into the cold storage environment, resulting in a loss rate of approximately 94.13%. Based on apple preservation experiments, phase-temperature storage exhibited significantly superior performance compared to conventional cold storage in terms of apple respiratory peak, weight loss rate, hardness, and TSS content, with respective values of 17.05 CO<sub>2</sub> mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup>, 2.89%, 9.29 N, and 16.3%. In contrast, the conventional cold storage group recorded values of 18.15 CO<sub>2</sub> mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup>, 5.16%, 8.42 N, and 14.9%. These results highlight the exceptional freshness-retention capabilities of phase-temperature storage, underscoring its considerable potential for application in storage systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-27b67c7b0bc74b98b20ca00f999878aa |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj-art-27b67c7b0bc74b98b20ca00f999878aa2025-08-20T01:49:18ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582025-04-01149159210.3390/foods14091592Design and Research of a New Cold Storage: The Phase-Temperature Storage (PTS) to Reduce Evaporator FrostingLihua Duan0Yanli Zheng1Yunbin Jiang2Wenhan Li3Limei Li4Bin Liu5Bin Li6Xihong Li7College of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, ChinaInstitute of Agricultural Products Preservation and Processing Science and Technology, Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Tianjin 300384, ChinaChestnut Research Center, Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology, Qinhuangdao 066004, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, ChinaCollege of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, ChinaInternational Centre in Fundamental and Engineering Thermophysics, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin 300134, ChinaInternational Centre in Fundamental and Engineering Thermophysics, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin 300134, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, ChinaThis paper introduces a novel cold storage: phase-temperature storage, which is characterized by its distinctive coupling jacket structure that connects the sub-storehouse units to the main storehouse. This innovative design facilitates heat transfer while effectively inhibiting mass transfer. Experimental results indicate that polyethylene film, with a thermal conductivity of 0.42 W/m·K, is a more suitable material for constructing sub-storehouses. Enhancing the surface area of the sub-storehouse and increasing convective wind speed are identified as key factors for improving convective heat transfer within the sub-storehouse. Moreover, the optimized design ensures a more uniform temperature distribution inside the sub-storehouse. In contrast to conventional cold storage, the defrosting unit in phase-temperature storage consumes only 5.72 units of energy under equivalent conditions, compared to 154.02 units for conventional cold storage. This demonstrates that the energy expenditure during the defrosting process of phase temperature storage is less than 4% of that required by conventional cold storage, achieving an energy savings rate exceeding 96%. Under identical circumstances, conventional cold storage consumes a total of 36.359 units of electrical energy for defrosting, with 34.231 units being released as defrosting waste heat into the cold storage environment, resulting in a loss rate of approximately 94.13%. Based on apple preservation experiments, phase-temperature storage exhibited significantly superior performance compared to conventional cold storage in terms of apple respiratory peak, weight loss rate, hardness, and TSS content, with respective values of 17.05 CO<sub>2</sub> mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup>, 2.89%, 9.29 N, and 16.3%. In contrast, the conventional cold storage group recorded values of 18.15 CO<sub>2</sub> mg·kg<sup>−1</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup>, 5.16%, 8.42 N, and 14.9%. These results highlight the exceptional freshness-retention capabilities of phase-temperature storage, underscoring its considerable potential for application in storage systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/9/1592phase-temperature storageconventional cold storageenergy savingprecision temperature controlsub-storehousemother chamber |
| spellingShingle | Lihua Duan Yanli Zheng Yunbin Jiang Wenhan Li Limei Li Bin Liu Bin Li Xihong Li Design and Research of a New Cold Storage: The Phase-Temperature Storage (PTS) to Reduce Evaporator Frosting Foods phase-temperature storage conventional cold storage energy saving precision temperature control sub-storehouse mother chamber |
| title | Design and Research of a New Cold Storage: The Phase-Temperature Storage (PTS) to Reduce Evaporator Frosting |
| title_full | Design and Research of a New Cold Storage: The Phase-Temperature Storage (PTS) to Reduce Evaporator Frosting |
| title_fullStr | Design and Research of a New Cold Storage: The Phase-Temperature Storage (PTS) to Reduce Evaporator Frosting |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Research of a New Cold Storage: The Phase-Temperature Storage (PTS) to Reduce Evaporator Frosting |
| title_short | Design and Research of a New Cold Storage: The Phase-Temperature Storage (PTS) to Reduce Evaporator Frosting |
| title_sort | design and research of a new cold storage the phase temperature storage pts to reduce evaporator frosting |
| topic | phase-temperature storage conventional cold storage energy saving precision temperature control sub-storehouse mother chamber |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/14/9/1592 |
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