Summary
We measured the cooling performance of the ice pond cooling sub-system applied to potato storage in order to study its cooling characteristics. The fan coil unit supplied cooled air of a stable temperature at 1 centigrade. The temperature and humidity inside the storage shed were kept at 2 centigrade and 92-98% RH, resyctively, and that was a favorable environment for storing potatoes for table stock. The cooling capacity increased linearly with an increase of water flow and a larger air flow caused a greater cooling capacity. About 20% of the cooling capacity was used for another purpose other than the cooling of storage air, but the coefficient of performance was about twice as high as that of a conventional refrigeration system using electricity.HomePage
Based on these experiments, we presented a method to estimate the cooling capacity of a commercial ice pond system. Empirical formulas, which express relationships between the water flow per unit area of heat transfer, face velocity, and the overall heat transfer coefficient, and between the number of heat transfer unit and the cold-side temperature effectiveness, were presented. These formulas made it possible to estimate the cooling capacity using the inlet conditions of a heat exchanger.Keywords: ice pond system, storage, cooling capacity, coefficient of performance, overall heat transfer coefficient, temperature effectiveness