Air flow visualization for fresh produce packaging by CFD analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify airflow in packaging containers with ventilation for fruit and vegetables and propose a favorable package shape for efficient ventilation. Here we investigated the influences of differences in the inlet air velocity through the ventilation port and diameter of the port on the air velocity distribution in a 1-layer packaging system container for strawberries employing computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis. It was suggested that the air velocity increases with a rise in the inlet air velocity or ventilation port size, i.e., the volumetric flow rate, but there were regions in which airflow could be hardly generated under any inlet condition. The results suggest that elimination of these regions is a key factor in developing a packaging container with a favorable shape for ventilation efficiency.