Control strategies for defrost and evaporator fans operation in walk-in freezers

Heat removal is the most extended method for food preservation in food manufacturing industry by lowering food temperatures to stop microorganisms growing, which might spoil the product and could cause toxicity. Therefore, walk-in freezers are used for that purpose consuming a relevant part of the e...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Maldonado, José Miguel, Zsembinszki, Gabriel, Gracia Cuesta, Alvaro de, Moreno Argilés, Pere, Albets Chico, Xavier, González, Miguel Ángel, Cabeza, Luisa F.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10459.1/64592
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2018.05.025
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/64592
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Compression refrigeration system
Defrost cycle
Fans operation
Cooling
Système frigorifique à compression
Cycle de dégivrage
Fonctionnement des ventilateurs
Refroidissement
Descripción
Sumario:Heat removal is the most extended method for food preservation in food manufacturing industry by lowering food temperatures to stop microorganisms growing, which might spoil the product and could cause toxicity. Therefore, walk-in freezers are used for that purpose consuming a relevant part of the energy on service sector. The compression refrigeration system of the walk-in freezers can be blocked by the frost accumulated on the evaporator. For that reason a defrost process, which requires an important part of the energy consumption, has to be launched from time to time. In this paper, the schedule which manages the defrost process is investigated to limit its activation only when it is necessary. Moreover, different fan operation strategies were tested regarding the energy efficiency of the whole refrigeration system. This study has provided a system control strategy both for defrost and fans operation, depending on the frost built up on the evaporator. The control improves the energy performance of the whole refrigeration system.