Contact
Sigurjón Arason
Chief Engineer
sigurjon.arason@matis.is
Thermal modeling of processing and transport of fresh fish / Hermun kæliferla - LOKASKÝRSLA
The main objective of the project Simulation of cooling processes - thermodynamic simulation of production and transport processes, which began in June 2008, was to present improvements in procedures and equipment related to the transport of marine products through process analysis, experiments and computerized thermal and hydrological models. The consequences of improved temperature control in production and transport processes are increased quality, stability and safety, which at the same time increase the value of the product. Partners in the project were Matís, the University of Iceland, Promens Tempra, Eimskip Ísland, Samherji, Brim (ÚA), Festi, Völusteinn and Eskja. This report describes the main results and products of the project. Examples of products are heat transfer models of fresh fish products in a foam box, which make it possible to predict fish temperatures based on environmental temperature history. Heat transfer models were used to redesign the Promens Tempra 3, 5 and 7 kg foam boxes with the minimum target fish temperature minimization under the target heat load. Experiments confirmed the superiority of the new boxes over traditional box types, both in terms of temperature control and product quality under heat load. The results of another experiment show that the shelf life of fresh fish fillets in corner boxes of whole pallets in the air transport chain can be about 1-1.5 days shorter than fillets in boxes in the middle of the pallet stack. Heat distribution in different cooling chains was mapped and special emphasis was placed on pre-cooling fillets for packing and heat distribution in different types of cooling containers with different loading patterns.
The main aim of the research project Hermun kæliferla - Thermal modeling of processing and transport of fresh fish, which was launched in June 2008, was to improve technology and practices used for fish processing and transport by means of analysis of chill chains, experiments and computational modeling. Improved temperature control in fish chill chains leads to increased product quality, stability and safety and thereby increased product value. This report describes the main results and products of the project. Examples include heat transfer models of fresh fish fillets packaged in boxes, which can be used to predict product temperature evolution as a function of variable ambient temperature. Numerical heat transfer models were used to optimize the design of 3, 5 and 7 ‐ kg expanded polystyrene boxes manufactured by Promens Tempra with the aim of minimizing the maximum fish temperature in boxes under thermal load. Improved thermal protection of the new box design was confirmed in different experiments, both with regard to lesser product temperature variations and extended freshness period and storage life of products. The results from another storage study suggest that the storage life of fresh fish products in a corner box can be more than 1‐1.5 days shorter than in the center boxes of a full size pallet stack in a real air transport chain, depending on the level of ambient thermal load. Environmental and product temperatures were mapped in different chill chains with special emphasis laid on precooling during processing and temperature distribution in reefer containers of different types and loading patterns.