EP4137764A1 - Système de rayonnage pour salles de stockage, salles de stockage avec ledit système de rayonnage et procédé pour assurer une température uniforme dans ladite salle de stockage - Google Patents

Système de rayonnage pour salles de stockage, salles de stockage avec ledit système de rayonnage et procédé pour assurer une température uniforme dans ladite salle de stockage Download PDF

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Publication number
EP4137764A1
EP4137764A1 EP22178118.0A EP22178118A EP4137764A1 EP 4137764 A1 EP4137764 A1 EP 4137764A1 EP 22178118 A EP22178118 A EP 22178118A EP 4137764 A1 EP4137764 A1 EP 4137764A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
air
boxes
racking system
pallets
storage room
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP22178118.0A
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German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Andrej Pusnik
Stanislaw Franaszek
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Eho d o o
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Eho d o o
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Publication date
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Publication of EP4137764A1 publication Critical patent/EP4137764A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D17/00—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces
    • F25D17/005—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces in cold rooms
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D17/00—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces
    • F25D17/04—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection
    • F25D17/06—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection by forced circulation

Definitions

  • the present invention belongs to the field of devices and methods for preserving and/or ripening foodstuff, more precisely tropical fruit like bananas.
  • the invention also belongs to the field of refrigeration and cooling, more particularly to the field of cold rooms and arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces.
  • the invention relates to a racking system for storage rooms, storage rooms with said racking system and a method for assuring uniform temperature in said storage room.
  • Storage rooms including rooms, chambers, or truck containers, have been used for many years in the fruit industry for storing fruit, especially tropical food such as bananas.
  • Storage rooms are generally supplied with air, which is cooled by a refrigeration system, in order to maintain a predetermined fruit temperature.
  • the cooled air is circulated throughout the substantially enclosed room at discretely controlled temperatures for a fixed length of time, until the produce achieves adjusted temperature. It is of utmost importance that storing room construction allows uniform air pressure and air flow throughout the air flow circuit in the room in order to enable uniform ripening of all fruit stored in the room.
  • hot spots form in center of pallets (boxes). These hot spots result in an uncontrolled temperature rise in the center of the tight stack and upon longer storage initialization of natural ripening process. This in turn leads to reduced fruit quality and shortage of a green life of the particular fruit.
  • a typical air flow circuit is the following:
  • the cooling air has to pass a long way along boxes and pallets where it gradually takes up respiration heat energy from the boxes, so that at the end of such passage the air has a temperature around 1,0 K higher as the air supplied from the air cooler. This difference in temperature may be further increased in the air returning from the front of the storage room towards the air cooler.
  • Patent US5899084 discloses a ripening room for ripening perishable products, such as fruits and vegetables, and more particularly bananas, in which the air flow and temperature are closely controlled by the room construction and by a cooling control system that achieves uniform ripening of the fruit regardless of the physical location of the fruit within the room. This document does not disclose a racking system ensuring uniform temperature in all parts of the storage room.
  • European patent EP0742887 discloses cool rooms or sea containers designed for frozen goods to handle produce requiring more precisely controlled temperatures and conditions, e.g. vegetables and fruits requiring temperatures in the chilling range and often also needing control or modification of the atmosphere.
  • Each load of produce e.g. of pallet size
  • the atmosphere within the bag is then circulated by a fan (or by convection currents from a heating element) so as to pass through the load and around it via ducts provided adjacent the bag. Heat exchange between the circulating gas and the refrigerated environment, via the plastics film, serves to cool the load.
  • the present invention is directed to a racking system for storage rooms and storage rooms with the racking system for storing produce, including fruit and vegetables, more particular for bananas, and a method for ensuring uniform temperature throughout the said storage room.
  • the cooling storage room is generally designed as a room or a chamber having a volume defined by a floor, a ceiling, a rear wall, sidewalls and a door.
  • the door may be a hinged panel, removable panel, vertical or horizontal sliding panel. These elements of the storage room are air tight against leakage when the door is closed, wherein the room may also be insulated.
  • the length and width of the storage room are a matter of design choice, depending on the desired capacity, which affects the number of rack units and tiers per rack of palletized food product.
  • the height of the room is preferably no more than two meters above the top of the palletized product.
  • the present invention is applicable to chambers with single or multiple rows and single or multiple tiers per row.
  • Any refrigeration system is installed in the storage room, usually below the ceiling on one side of the storage room.
  • Said refrigeration system commonly comprises a heat exchanger (air cooler), cooling installation inclusive all needed auxiliary units and components and a control system allowed control of the temperature inside the said room.
  • air cooler air cooler
  • Circulation of the air through the room is enabled by the air fans of the air cooler and the control unit responsible for and mounted inside or outside the room. By mounting the control unit in this manner, it may be serviced without removing food product from the room.
  • the external mounting allows easier handling and resulting also in a lower cost of constructionand operation.
  • the essence of the invention is a racking system to be installed between two lanes (corridors) of pallets with produce (i.e. inner racking system) or around/above the stacked pallets (i.e. outside racking system),the mentioned racking system is provided with air fans that create a pressure differential and is arranged to determine air distribution, which ensures stable, uniform air flow through all product pallets or boxes, regardless of their position in the storage room, thus leading to uniform cooling of products in the storage room.
  • the racking system is designed to accept a load of product such as palletized food product that includes a number of pallets placed in rows, also referred to as lanes. Pallets are of a standard size used in the food industry, for example tropical, chemical or euro pallets type.
  • Product boxes may vary in size, though preferably boxes of the same size are used on each pallet, so that openings in the sides, front and back of the boxes are aligned with each other when the boxes are stacked on the pallet. These openings allow air to flow freely and uniformly pass the food product within the product boxes for maximum effect.
  • the inner racking system is a framework comprising:
  • the outer racking system is designed in a similar way with the difference that the racking system is not installed in the corridor between two lanes of pallets, but encases one, two or more lanes of pallets.
  • Such framework comprises:
  • Air fans located above the racking system suck or blow the cooling air through the boxes on pallets from a high-pressure plenum and a low-pressure plenum (inside and outside the racking system). This results in that air is not only blown or suck around pallets and boxes, but also through the boxes stacked on pallets, so that the respiration heat is removed from the product to the air. Almost 100% of the air in the cooling room according to the invention flows through the boxes with food, where in conventional design of storage rooms less than 50% of air reaches the products in the boxes. In case the bottom part is not present, the air flow is less uniform, as it is more likely to pass below the boxes, through the pallets.
  • Air temperature may be measured in order to allow temperature adjustment with the control unit.
  • at least one sensor may be arranged in any of the boxes stacked on the pallets, preferably in the middle of the stack, in order to sense the temperature and detect any possible hot spots.
  • other sensors may be located anywhere in the racking system or the boxes, the sensors preferably sensing the amount of CO 2 and/or ethylene in order to estimate respiration activity of the food.
  • the racking system according to the invention is made from steel, but can be also made from any other suitable metal material.
  • the storage room is operably connected to a cooling and/or heating source for achieving a predetermined temperature within the storage room.
  • the said air cooler or refrigeration system is placed above the racking system and is provided with integrated air fans.
  • a control system is provided in the storage room, which can be any suitable control system able to detect properties of the cooling air and uses information relating to stored products, ambient temperature, ambient CO 2 concentration and preferably ethylene concentration, in order to set the required temperature, control the pressure, temperature, and fan operation. Consequently, the air fans and the refrigeration system operate at a higher efficiency, as they only cool the air to the required level. Setting of the fans is done in any suitable way known to a skilled person.
  • the circulating air may follow a continuous path from the open space of the storage room, through boxes of produce stacked in tight stack manner together with the racking system, the intermediate space of the racking system and finally blown up through the air fans of the racking system back to the open space of the storage room. Air can also circulate vice versa: from the open space above the racking unit, through the fans of the racking unit, the intermediate space in the racking unit, through the boxes on pallets and back to the open space of the storage room.
  • the circulating air to be provided to cool the food products in boxes is cooled by the refrigeration system.
  • control system and the control unit are conventional devices that control the temperature and composition of air circulated within the room or the chamber.
  • the storage room according to the invention is generally designed as a room or a chamber having a volume defined by a floor, a ceiling, a rear wall, sidewalls and a door and comprises the refrigeration system, the control unit and at least one racking system as described above, preferably more if the storage room is larger and more rows (lanes) of pallets with food products are stored inside it.
  • the storage room according to the invention may have a combination of inner and outside racking systems, depending on the size, construction and stored products.
  • the invention is not limited to a single steel rack unit of palletized product. It is also possible that more racking systems units are build in the storage room. Presence of a second, third or additional racking system loaded with a palletized product does not change the functionality of the system as described above.
  • a method for assuring uniform temperature in the storage room according to the invention comprises the steps of:
  • the speed of air fans forms a smoothly changing curve as a function of time or the slowly changing speed of the air froms a substantially straight line when graphed as a function of temperature versus time.
  • a method of controlling the operation of the storage room according to the invention comprising a cooling system that includes a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, refrigerant, and at least one refrigerant line, said method comprising the steps of:
  • the invention solves the technical problem and ensures closely controlled air flow and temperature in all parts of the storage room resulting in uniform product temperature of the fruit regardless of the physical location of the pallets (boxes). Further, a minimum quantity of energy and cooling capacity is needed, as the cooling and/or heating elements is controlled with regards to the real-time sensed temperature and thus the optimal temperature may be set.
  • Figure 1 is a view of the racking system according to a first embodiment.
  • the rack 4 shown in figure 1 is an inside rack, which is build between two lanes of the stacked pallets 3.
  • the pallets 3 stacked in two rows of pallets build a kind of air tight wall on both sides of the rack, so that air fans can blow or such the process air 12 through the pallets and boxes stacked on pallets and in this way transfer the heat from the produce to the air cooler 13 (cooling) or from the air cooler 13 to the produce (heating).
  • Figure 2a is a cut view along A-A
  • figure 2b is a cut view along the E-E shown in figure 1 .
  • Figures 3 to 6 are front views of embodiments of the racking system (inside and outside racking system) with different air flow patterns through the palletized boxes with food products.
  • Figure 3 is a schematic front view of the rack 4 unit loaded with pallets 3, the racking system is the inside rack with row of pallets stacked close each other and building kind of air tight rows where process air blowed by air fans integrated in racking system through the pallets and boxes. Air 6 is flowing downwards, from the open space of the storage room 1 to the space inside the racking system 2, between boxes on pallets 3 and then back to the open space inside the storage room 1.
  • Figure 4 shows the inside racking system with air fans, but with the opposite air flow 6a, as air is flowing upwards, i.e., from the air fans 5 to the open space of the storage room 1 where it is mixed with the air stream 12 produced by the air cooler under ceiling 13, then passes the boxes on pallets 3, the intermediate space in the racking unit and returns upwards back to the air fans 5.
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of the racking system according to a second embodiment, wherein with so called outside rack 4a where the rack is located around the pallets 3a.
  • the air flow presented here is so called downward flow, which is the same as described in figure 3 .
  • Figure 6 shows the outside racking system with the opposite air flow if compared to figure 5 and thus the same as described in figure 4 .
  • the product may be mounted on supports other than pallets or stored without pallets within the storage room.
  • the product may be food or a non-food product.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Devices That Are Associated With Refrigeration Equipment (AREA)
EP22178118.0A 2021-08-19 2022-06-09 Système de rayonnage pour salles de stockage, salles de stockage avec ledit système de rayonnage et procédé pour assurer une température uniforme dans ladite salle de stockage Withdrawn EP4137764A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP21192259 2021-08-19

Publications (1)

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EP4137764A1 true EP4137764A1 (fr) 2023-02-22

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EP22178118.0A Withdrawn EP4137764A1 (fr) 2021-08-19 2022-06-09 Système de rayonnage pour salles de stockage, salles de stockage avec ledit système de rayonnage et procédé pour assurer une température uniforme dans ladite salle de stockage

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Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0742887A1 (fr) 1994-02-17 1996-11-20 Transphere Systems Limited Ameliorations relatives a un procede de transport ou de stockage de denrees perissables
US5899084A (en) 1997-01-10 1999-05-04 Chiquita Brands, Inc. Method and apparatus for ripening perishable products in a temperature-controlled room
KR101231928B1 (ko) * 2012-09-13 2013-02-15 주식회사 신세계푸드 후숙고
JP5268172B2 (ja) * 2011-10-18 2013-08-21 株式会社サミット神戸合同物産 バナナの追熟加工方法および追熟加工用システム
US10955186B1 (en) * 2020-04-13 2021-03-23 Keith A. Kenneally Refrigerated, thermally insulated, collapsible cover assembly and method of using to transport perishable products

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0742887A1 (fr) 1994-02-17 1996-11-20 Transphere Systems Limited Ameliorations relatives a un procede de transport ou de stockage de denrees perissables
US5899084A (en) 1997-01-10 1999-05-04 Chiquita Brands, Inc. Method and apparatus for ripening perishable products in a temperature-controlled room
JP5268172B2 (ja) * 2011-10-18 2013-08-21 株式会社サミット神戸合同物産 バナナの追熟加工方法および追熟加工用システム
KR101231928B1 (ko) * 2012-09-13 2013-02-15 주식회사 신세계푸드 후숙고
US10955186B1 (en) * 2020-04-13 2021-03-23 Keith A. Kenneally Refrigerated, thermally insulated, collapsible cover assembly and method of using to transport perishable products

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