Energy Efficiency

DOI 10.1007/s12053-014-9253-y

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effects of airflow induction on heat transfer and energy

consumption while freezing passion fruit pulp in stacked boxes
Natália Cristina Belchior & Tales Márcio de Oliveira Giarola &
Jaime Vilela de Resende

Received: 14 March 2013 / Accepted: 28 January 2014

# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Abstract The objectives of this work were to charac- the quality and operation of the electrical system. This
terize the energy consumption and the heat transfer practice was shown to be viable for small producers and
process by the determination of the convective heat agribusinesses that desire reductions in processing time
transfer coefficient (h) of passion fruit pulp contained and energy consumption and, consequently, the overall
in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) boxes and frozen cost of the final product.
in two conditions: without and with airflow induction,
which was achieved through the installation of obsta-
cles. To determine the convective heat transfer coeffi- Keywords Effective heat transfer coefficient . Energy
cients, HDPE boxes containing passion fruit pulp consumption . Air-blast freezing . Frozen fruit pulp .
(contained in polyethylene bags) were interspersed with Freezing time
boxes containing metal tanks filled with low freezing
point solutions. Three types of solutions were used: Nomenclature
A Heat transfer area (square meter)
ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and ethanol. The
AD Active demand (kilowatt)
airflow induction under the stacks of passion fruit pulp
AE Active energy (kilowatt hour)
provided higher h values than without airflow induction.
AEM Active energy/month (kilowatt hour)
The calculated average values and standard deviation
AP Amount of product/batch (kilogram)
were 6.340±0.87 W/m2 °C, respectively, without air-
Bi Biot number
flow induction and 8.419±1.39 W/m2 °C with airflow
Bis Biot number=h2L/k
induction. The average reduction of the freezing time
CD With air induction
was 25 % for the boxes located at the top and 20 % in the
Cp Specific heat (kilojoule per kilogram per degree
base of the stack. This proved that directing the airflow
Celsius)
under the stacked product promoted more uniform and
CF Charge factor
efficient heat transfer. The analysis of the electrical
D Diameter (meter)
parameter measurements revealed an approximate de-
e Error (percent)
crease of 16.7 % in energy consumption due to the
E Equivalent heat transfer dimensionality
reduction of the freezing time, without compromising
h Convective heat transfer coefficient
(watt per square meter per degree Celsius)
N. C. Belchior : T. M. de Oliveira Giarola : k Thermal conductivity (watt per meter per
J. V. de Resende (*) degree Celsius)
Department of Food Science, Laboratory of Food
m Mass (kilogram)
Refrigeration, Federal University of Lavras,
P.O. Box 3037, 37200-000 Lavras, MG, Brazil MAD Maximum active demand (kilowatt)
e-mail: jvresende@dca.ufla.br NBM Number of batches/month
 Energy Efficiency

PF Power factor north (5.35 %), midwest (3 %), and south (1.8 %) (IBGE
PPM Physical production/month (kilogram) 2010). It is estimated that over 60 % of the Brazilian
RE Reactive energy (kilovolt-ampere-reactive-hour) production of passion fruit are intended for fresh con-
SC Specific consumption (kilowatt hour per sumption, through fairs and supermarkets. The surplus
kilogram of pulp) is destined to the process industries and the juice is the
SD Without air induction main product. Passion fruit is valued due its nutritional
T Temperature (degree Celsius) characteristics, particular flavor, and an interesting
t Time (hour) source for the manufacture of beverages and fruit juices.
X Length in the coordinate system (meter) The economic importance of the passion fruit is the
Y Height in the coordinate system (meter) production of concentrate and natural juices or frozen
Z Width in the coordinate system (meter) pulp. The passion fruit pulp is used as a raw material for
Zn, Zm Roots of a transcendental equation of the type the preparation of sweets and other formulations, nec-
C=αtanα tars, soft drinks, concentrates for soft drinks, syrups,
Znm Defined by Eq. (12). jellies, and ice creams (Meleti 2011).
Research has been conducted on the markets for pas-
Greek symbols
sion fruits in Brazil, including information on sales vol-
umes, origins, and loss percentages. In the state of Minas
βi Ratio of dimension to characteristic dimension, i=1, 2
Gerais, there has been a large increase in the volume of
Δ Difference
fruits from this region where the index of sales varied with
∞ Air cooling
the time of year. The retail losses were 7.3 % on average;
Subscripts many of those fruits that were considered inappropriate for
in natura consumption could have been processed for the
Air Air production of preserves, juices, and frozen pulp (Andrade
AN Dimensionality analytically derived et al. 2003). The production is seasonal; mainly from
Eff Effective January to June. Production in the municipal district of
eq Equivalent Lavras alone reaches 500 tons/year, which, if processed,
etg Ethylene glycol would correspond to approximately 150 tons/year of pulp.
eth Ethanol Most of the passion fruit production is sold to other pro-
exp Experimental cessing industries at the price of USD 0.23/kg. When
f Freezing marketed in the form of frozen pulp, the product’s price
max Maximum exceeds USD 9.50/kg, and its shelf life increases from
pred Predicted´ 3 weeks for fresh passion fruit to 18 months.
prop Propylene glycol The freezing process is an important preserva-
slab Slab tion method for passion fruit. Freezing reduces
sol Solution fruit loss, increases product value, and makes qual-
tq Tank ity products available throughout the year. Further-
0 Unfrozen more, the cooling and freezing processes reduce
chemical and enzymatic reactions and microorgan-
ism growth, while the crystallization of free water
reduces the activity of the water, thus delaying
Introduction food deterioration (Ashrae 2002; Delgado and
Sun 2001; Salvadori and Mascheroni 1996). In
The latest data compiled by the Brazilian Institute of the case of passion fruit, the freezing process is
Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2010 showed that implemented typically in small agricultural instal-
the passion fruit production (Passiflora edulis f. lations where the energy consumption, which is
flavicarpa Deg.) was 920,158 tons, volume 29 % over related to the freezing time, is an important factor
the previous year. The northeast region is the largest in the overall production cost.
producer, responsible for 76 % of the national produc- In forced air cooling systems, airflow at low-
tion of the fruit, followed by the southeast (13.85 %), temperature air has been used as the cooling medium.
Energy Efficiency
Forced chilled air flows around the product, which is
usually packed in boxes to reduce the freezing time
(Thompson 2004). The temperature and flow of the
air, and the layout and geometry of the product deter-
mine the freezing time in forced air cooling systems.
Various works have shown (Reno et al. 2011; Resende
et al. 2013) that the air velocity profiles in freezing
tunnels used for forced air cooling depend strongly on
the amount of product and its distribution within the
equipment. The air usually flows through preferential
paths, which may lead to errors in the determination of
heat transfer coefficients and freezing times of products.
In these systems, the heat transfer can be constant
through the surface of the product; however, the heat
transfer coefficients can vary with the position and
distribution of the product inside the freezing tunnel.
The convective heat transfer coefficient (h) relates the
amount of energy transferred from a cooling medium to
the surface of a product when they are in direct contact.
Higher values of h indicate more efficient heat transfer
between cooling fluids and products. Measurements of
local heat transfer coefficients for complex geometries
are difficult and rare. The most common practical
methods for measuring effective coefficients are station-
ary state temperature, measure of the transient tempera-
ture during cooling and heat flow and the temperature
on surfaces (Lind 1988; Cleland 1992).
In the case of stacked boxes, the use of a metal test
body is difficult due to the large sample dimensions. If
the objective is to determine the average heat transfer
coefficients throughout the stacks, a convenient alterna-
tive is the use of a physical model with relatively simple
heat transfer properties (Santos et al. 2007). In this case,
it is possible to use a body with a more well-known low
thermal conductivity (Bi>0.1). This method can be used
with test substances of uniform composition and prop-
erties. During the experiment, the temperature distribu-
tion in the body is used to calculate the heat transfer
coefficient. Analytical solutions are available for some
common geometry with defined boundary conditions
(Cleland et al. 1994).
Promoting the airflow induction under the
stacked product is of practical interest because
preferential airflow paths returning to the evapora-
tor can be avoided, which promotes more uniform
and efficient heat transfer. This form of operation
alters the airflow control, which is a critical point
because airflow control determines the efficiency
and uniformity of the product treatment.
The objectives of this work were to characterize
the heat transfer process and determine the con-
vective heat transfer coefficients during air-blast
freezing, with and without airflow induction, for
passion fruit pulps contained in high-density poly-
ethylene (HDPE) boxes. In addition, the heat
transfer coefficients were validated by comparing
estimates of the freezing times with the experimen-
tal results. Furthermore, the effects of alterations
of the arrangement of the fruit on the freezing
time and the energy consumption of the processes
were evaluated. Studies on airflow induction to
improve circulation around products and their ef-
fects on convective heat transfer coefficients are
found in the literature (Barbin et al. 2010; Resende
et al. 2013). Studies considering simultaneously
the induction effects of airflow on the heat transfer
coefficients, residence time of the product, physi-
cal production, and energy consumption and oper-
ating quality of the refrigeration equipment are
rarely found.
Materials and methods
Material
Yellow passion fruit (P. edulis f. flavicarpa Deg.) pulp
was obtained from fruits that were acquired directly
from small agricultural producers of the Lavras-MG
region and produced by conventional cultivation in the
2009/2010 harvest. The fruits were chosen at a uniform
maturation stage, i.e., their skins were yellow.
The fruits were washed in running water to remove
dirt and immersed in a 200 mg L−1 sodium hypochlorite
solution for 15 min. After sanitization, fruits that were
inappropriate for use were discarded. The passion fruits
were cut into pieces, the pulp with seeds was extracted
and the peel was discarded. An electric grinder
(Macanuda®, Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil) was used
to separate the pulp from the seeds. Then, 0.5 g/100 g of
potassium sorbate was added to inhibit microorganism
growth until the moment of the experimental assembly.
Thermophysical properties of passion fruit pulp
The freezing point (Tf =−2.2 °C) of passion fruit pulp
was obtained from experimental measurements (Pereira
et al. 2013). The thermal conductivity of the pulp was

obtained as a function of the freezing temperature using
Eq. (1) (Pereira et al. 2013).
ð16:5535
T
Þ
k passion ¼ 2:3831−1:8371e
The density was calculated as a function of moisture,
protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and ash content (Ashrae 2002).
Freezing the pulp
Preparation of HDPE boxes containing passion fruit
pulp
The pulp was maintained in a controlled temperature
environment of 20 °C for 48 h to reach thermal homo-
geneity. Then, samples of 15 kg of passion fruit pulp
were weighed, placed in polyethylene bags, and distrib-
uted in 26 boxes of high-density polyethylene. The
dimensions of the polyethylene bags were 0.53 m
(length)×0.36 m (width)×0.086 m (height). The HDPE
box dimensions were 0.60 m (length)×0.40 m (width)×
0.17 m (height). These boxes were ventilated to allow
air to pass through and to come in contact with the
product: 12.40 % opening area on the width × length
dimensions, 26.55 % on the width × height dimensions,
and 29.13 % on the width × length dimensions (bottom).
Preparation of tanks of test solutions
For the experimental measurements of the effective local
heat transfer coefficient (heff), galvanized steel tanks were
completely filled with antifreeze solutions (Santos et al.
2007). Galvanized steel tanks with the same geometry and
dimensions as the HDPE boxes were made for this pur-
pose. The steel was chosen because it has high thermal
conductivity (k=43 W/m K to 27 °C) and was easy to
obtain and handle (Incropera and Dewitt 2003; Santos
et al. 2007). The steel was galvanized with a fine zinc
coating, with thermal conductivity of k=116 W/m K at
27 °C. The specific heat of the galvanized steel (Cptq) used
in the calculation was 0.444 kJ/kg K.
Nine tanks were made from steel sheet (thickness of
2 mm); their internal volume was 15 L. The nine tanks
were weighed and identified, as depicted in Table 1.
These tanks were put inside the HDPE boxes, filled with
the antifreeze solutions and weighed again to calculate
the mass of the solutions. Three solutions were used
(ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and ethanol) at the
concentrations shown in Table 1.
Energy Efficiency
The specific heat for the solutions at these concentra-
tions may be obtained as a function of the cooling tem-
perature using the following equations (ASHRAE 1997):
ð1Þ
Cpetg ¼ 0:0034T þ 3:401 ð2Þ
Cpeth ¼ 0:0049T þ 4:1658 ð3Þ
Cpprop ¼ 0:0028T þ 3:7505 ð4Þ
Assembly of the stacks of boxes
The HDPE boxes containing the pulp were stacked inside
the freezing tunnel and interspersed with the boxes con-
taining the metal tanks of antifreeze solution. The stack
was assembled in the center of the tunnel maintaining
equal lateral spacing in every case. Two configurations
were tested: with and without airflow induction. In both
configurations, the stack consisted of five columns of
seven boxes. The stacks of boxes (including the metal
tanks) on pallets, without and with airflow induction, are
shown in panels a and b of Fig. 1, respectively.
Airflow induction (Fig. 1b) was provided by
installing expanded polystyrene slabs (0.10 and 0.20 m
thick) in the stacks to serve as airflow barriers and to
force the air to pass through the product before returning
to the evaporator.
Freezing the passion fruit pulp
The stack of boxes was batch cooled in a freezing
tunnel, where a flow of forced air was directed on the
product. The operational temperature of the tunnel was
−25 °C, and the experiments were conducted with three
replicates. Figure 1 shows the dimensions of the freez-
ing tunnel and the system of rectangular coordinates that
was used as a reference throughout the work. The freez-
ing tunnel had a condensing unit (Danfoss, model
HCM064B50Q, France) operating with refrigerant
R-402B, refrigerating capacity 4,685 kcal/h, and power
consumption 3.8 kW at −25 °C (according to the equip-
ment manufacturer). The evaporator (Delta Frio, Brazil)
in the freezing tunnel had five fans with individual
induction engines, each rated at 70 W of power
consumption.
Energy Efficiency

Table 1 Characteristics of the

tanks used in this work Tank number Solution Mass of empty Mass of tank with
tank (kg) solution (kg)

1 Ethylene glycol (40 %) 3.285 18.720

2 Ethylene glycol (40 %) 3.290 18.735
3 Ethylene glycol (40 %) 3.310 18.855
4 Ethanol (30 %) 3.320 18.540
5 Ethanol (30 %) 3.280 18.465
6 Ethanol (30 %) 3.310 18.400
7 Propylene glycol (33.33 %) 3.295 18.410
8 Propylene glycol (33.33 %) 3.290 18.435
9 Propylene glycol (33.33 %) 3.290 18.450

Fig. 1 Stacks of the boxes (a)

and lateral view (b) without
airflow induction and with
airflow induction. The numbers
1–9 refer to the boxes that contain
the tanks, Table 2

Monitoring the temperatures of the air, boxes of pulp,
and metal tanks
To obtain the temperature history, 28 type T thermocou-
ples (copper-constantan AWG-30) and 15 resistive ther-
mal devices (RTDs) were installed throughout the ex-
perimental configuration at locations chosen among the
samples where they could monitor the transient heat
transfer behavior during the process. These thermocou-
ples and RTDs were connected to a signal conditioning
system (National Instruments-Model SCXI - Hungary).
Temperature measurements were taken at 2-min inter-
vals using Lab VIEW 8.5 software (National Instru-
ments, Ireland). The temperature sensors were inserted
into the geometric centers of the bags of pulp, the
antifreeze solutions, and the galvanized steel tanks, in
order to measure the temperature variations.
Three sensors were used in each container in the metal
tanks. One sensor was installed in the geometric center of
the tank to measure the temperature of the solution during
cooling, another was installed on the external metal sur-
face of the container, and the third was used to measure
the temperature of the surrounding air.
Air velocity measurements
The air velocity measurements were made with a hot wire
anemometer (TSI-model 9535-USA). The measurements
were taken at different heights (Y (m)=0.420, 0.845,
1.270, 1.695, and 2.120), lengths (X (m)=0.000, 0.090,
0.180, 0.270, 0.360, 0.450, 0.540, 0.630, 0.720, 0.810,
0.900, 0.990, 1.080, 1.170, 1.260, 1.350, 1.440, 1.530,
1.610, 1.700, 1.790, 1.880, 1.970, 2.060, 2.150, 2.240,
and 2.330), and widths (Z (m)=0.135 and 1.195) in the
freezing tunnel in the horizontal air circulation direction.
Determination of the convective heat transfer
coefficient (h)
The convective heat transfer coefficients were deter-
mined using the rectangular sheet metal tanks. For the
heat transfer analysis, the surface temperature of the
containers built with galvanized steel plate was consid-
ered to be homogeneous over the entire surface and the
thermophysical properties of the air were considered to
remain constant during the assays.
An energy balance of the system resulted in an equa-
tion that was used to determine the h values from the
experimental measurements. Equation (5) summarizes
Energy Efficiency
that energy balance, where A is the area of heat transfer;
mtq and msol are the weights of the empty tank and the
solution, respectively; Cptq and Cpsol are the specific
heats of the galvanized steel and the solution, respec-
tively; and Tsol is the solution temperature. Thus,
treating the heat transfer process as a succession of
almost stationary processes leads to Eq. (6) for the
determination of h values (Santos et al. 2007).
The effective temperature difference between the
tank surface (Ttq) and the air (T∞) during a time interval
Δt is given by Eq. (7).


dT tq dT sol
mtq Cptq þ msol Cpsol ¼ heff A T tq −T ∞ ð5Þ
dt dt
ðmCpΔT Þtq þ ðmCpΔT Þsol
heff ¼
ð6Þ
A T tq −T ∞ Δt
   

T tq ðtÞ þ T tq ðt þ ΔtÞ T ∞ ðtÞ þ T ∞ ðt þ ΔtÞ
T tq −T ∞ ¼ − ð7Þ
2 2
The temperature data that were used to calculate h
were measured after the freezing tunnel door was
closed. As the temperatures were registered every
2 min, that time interval was the minimum value that
was used to calculate the effective difference in the
temperature between the container surface and the air,
(Ttq −T∞). The duration of each experiment was limited
by the cooling rate of the solutions, i.e., the time when
the solutions and the temperatures of the tanks
approached the air temperature (T∞).
Experimental freezing time
The experimental freezing time was evaluated from the
readings of the thermocouples installed in the passion
fruit pulp. The end of the freezing process was
identified as the time when all of the thermocou-
ples registered −18 °C for both situations (with
and without airflow induction).
Validation of the experimental values of h and freezing
time estimates
Equation (8) was used to calculate the freezing time
from the form factor (E).
t f ;slab
t pred ¼ ð8Þ
E
Energy Efficiency

The parameter E is defined as the ratio between the ified equation of Plank for the phase change was used
freezing times of a test body and the actual product with (Pham 1986).
the same dimensions, under the same conditions. To For the boxes, the geometric factor (E) was calculat-
calculate tf,slab (Cleland 1992), the process was divided ed with the methodology of the geometric factor (EAN)
into two phases, pre-cooling and freezing, and the mod- derived from the analytical solution of heat transfer
problems with phase changes (Hossain et al. 1992).
8 2 3
>
 >
>  X
2 < 6 7
∞
2 6 sinZ n 7
E AN ¼ 1þ 1þ −4 6    7 ð9Þ
Bis >
> Bi 4 2
sin Z n Zn 5
>
:
s n¼1
Zn 1 þ
3
sinhðZ n β1 Þ þ coshðZ n β1 Þ
Bis Bis

X∞ X∞   
Z nm 1
− 8 β 22 senZ n sinZ m coshðZ nm Þ þ sinhðZ nm Þ
n¼1 m¼1
Bis β 2
  −1 #)−1
1 1
Z n Z m Z 2nm 1 þ sin2 Z n 1þ sin2 Z m
Bis Bis β1

where the values of Zn and Zm are the roots of the Determination of energy consumption
equations.
The energy consumption, with and without airflow in-
Bis ¼ Z n tanZ n ð10Þ duction, was determined with a power meter and a
digital transducer (KRON-Model Mult-k 120-Brasil)
and coupled to the computer through a converter (KR-485/
USB). The data were analyzed with the software
Bis β1 ¼ Z m tanZ m ð11Þ RedeMB5-Version 5.19, RS-485 standard network,
Modbus protocol. The energy consumption was mea-
In addition, the values of Znm are obtained from sured from the time when the freezing tunnel started to
Eq. (12): operate until all of the sensors indicated −18 °C. The
active energy (AE), reactive energy (RE), active demand
 2
β2 (AD), and maximum active demand (MAD) were mea-
Z 2nm ¼ Z 2n β22 þ Z 2m ð12Þ
β1 sured for each batch and analyzed.

The first six roots of Eqs. (10) and (11) are

defined in Carslaw and Jaeger (1959) as functions Results and discussions
of the values of Bis and Bis ×β1. Equations (9–12)
are chosen because they are valid for the extended Temperature histories
range of Biot and are applied specifically for rect-
angular bricks, despite complexity issues (Resende Figure 3 shows the temperature records obtained during
et al. 2013). The product inside the boxes was the freezing process, without and with airflow induction,
considered as an individual block (Fig. 2). The of passion fruit pulp contained in boxes at positions (X=
values of all inputs into Eqs. (9–12) are shown
in Table 2. To determine the error between the
experimental and predicted freezing time, Equation
(13) was used.
 
 t pred −t exp 
eð%Þ ¼ 100  ð13Þ
t exp 
Fig. 2 The geometric configuration of the airflow pathways be-
tween boxes

Table 2 Values of all the inputs into Eqs. (9–12)
Compact rectangular brick
Height (m) Length (m) Width (m) D (m)
0.086 0.536 0.361 0.043
a
β1 is the ratio width/height and β2 is the ratio length/height
1.565, Y=0.163), (X=1.565, Y=0.673), and (X=1.565,
Y=1.183). Figure 3 shows that the temperature reduc-
tion was faster with airflow induction and in boxes
located at the top of the stack. The cooling was slower
at the base of the stack.
Air velocities
Figure 4 shows the average air velocity alteration in the
inside of the freezing tunnel caused by the installation of
the barriers for directing the airflow in the stack of
boxes. The installation of the barriers increased the air
velocity by 46 % on average at the base of the stack,
41 % in the central area, and 13 % close to the boxes
located at the top of the stack. Figure 4 also shows the
standard deviation bars of the air velocity measurements
in each row of the stack before and after airflow induc-
tion. Considering the standard deviation bars, it is im-
portant point out that the increases in air velocity, indi-
vidually, in the tanks located in the upper row (Y=
1.183 m) (tanks 1, 2, and 3) are not significant. In the
tanks located in at positions Y=0.673 m and Y=0.163 m,
the average increase in air velocity is most influenced in
front of the boxes located closer to the door. The coor-
dinates shown in Fig. 4 refer to air velocity measure-
ment points located exactly at positions in front of the
boxes that contained the tanks that were used to deter-
mine the effective heat transfer coefficients.
Effective heat transfer coefficients (h)
Figure 5 shows the curves of temperature versus time
obtained by the temperature sensors installed in tank 5,
which was used as a test body for the determination of
the effective heat transfer coefficients. The peaks shown
in Fig. 5 refer to the rise of the air temperature caused by
the defrosting at specific programmed time intervals
during the operation of the freezing tunnel.
The average h values (hm) were obtained from the
arithmetic mean of all of the h values as functions of the
time in each of the nine metal containers. The time of
Energy Efficiency
Volume (m3) Area (m2) V/A (m) β1a β2a
0.0167 0.541 0.031 4.19 6.23
500 min was chosen because above this value the
heat transfer coefficients measured feature values
that go through extreme variations and cannot be
deduced from measuring the cooling rate of anti-
freeze boxes. This is because heat is transferred
not just between air and antifreeze, but also be-
tween antifreeze and fruit pulp. The antifreeze and
the fruit pulp will be at different temperatures
because they have different thermal properties, es-
pecially around the freezing point. In this point
(above 500 min, Fig. 3), the fruit pulp undergoes
a freezing plateau while the antifreeze does not.
Other consideration is that the temperatures differ-
ences are too low between the metal surface and
the air to achieve valid results, as it can be seen in
Fig. 5.
According Santos et al. (2007), the experimental
method used in this work is a suitable and reliable
procedure for the determination of heat transfer
coefficients inside industrial tunnels. The method
is sensitive enough to determine spatial heteroge-
neities in the tunnel and is versatile with respect to
the system geometry, characteristics which make it
a useful and simple tool to carry out diagnostic
tests in industrial plants.
The main issue when using the heat flow at surface
and the surface temperature is that the measuring device
will change the surface properties (Lind 1988). There-
fore, the heat transfer coefficients are evaluated from a
highly simplified approach that can provide an indica-
tive heat transfer coefficients. However, the indicative
heat transfer coefficient can be used as a qualitative
parameter to analyze and to compare the efficiency of
heat transfer process associated to the energy consump-
tion. Figure 6 show the graphs of h values without and
with airflow induction obtained during the freezing of
boxes of passion fruit pulp located at stacking center
positions, respectively.
The dispersions observed in the h values are also
associated with air temperature fluctuations caused by
the defrosting at specific programmed time intervals and
Energy Efficiency
Fig. 3 Cooling curve for freezing
a without induction (SD) and b
with induction (CD) of the airflow
for the passion fruit pulp packed
in boxes located in different
positions in the stack
the use of average temperature differences for heat
transfer by convection. Furthermore, macroscopic
fluctuations are observed in the air circulation
temperature and air velocity in the freezing tunnel.
This result shows that the local convective heat
transfer coefficients vary with time, at any given
fixed position inside the tunnel. Thus, the compar-
ison of the h values should be conducted through
the average values (Fig. 6). Figure 6 also shows
that the h values did not change significantly in
the lower layer, but it starts oscillating in the
middle and upper layers. In these figures, the high
values of the standard deviation indicates turbu-
lence and the oscillations observed are characteris-
tics of streams that follow preferential channels in
the gaps between the containers.
Figure 7 provides a comparison of the effects caused
by the alteration of the airflow on the values of the
average effective heat transfer coefficients at different
positions in the stack. An average effective heat transfer
coefficient value was calculated from the average
values (hm) of all of the metal tanks. The calcu-
lated average values and standard deviation were
6.340±0.87 W/m2 °C, respectively, without airflow
induction and 8.419±1.39 W/m2 °C with airflow induc-
tion. These results show that the use of the barriers
around the stacks increased the average convective heat
transfer coefficient by 32.79 %. The shorter process time
necessary to freeze the passion fruit pulp and the higher
overall hm average confirmed that the heat transfer was
more effective when the airflow was directed on the
product.

Fig. 4 Alteration of the air
velocities caused by routing the
airflow in the front positions of
the boxes with the test bodies
It is clear in Fig. 7 that most of the results are not
significant, given the standard deviation bars in the
graphs, although Fig. 4 shows that there is a difference
in the air velocity measured at this point. Also, Fig. 7
shows that the tanks positioned in the middle of the
lower and middle layers (tank 5 and tank 8, respectively)
and also tank 3 were not influenced by the air induction
system. As discussed previously, the heat transfer coef-
ficients were evaluated from a highly simplified ap-
proach where dispersions exist associated with air tem-
perature fluctuations and macroscopic fluctuations in
Energy Efficiency
the air circulation temperature and air velocity in the
freezing tunnel. Therefore, the use of average values are
indicated for the freezing time estimates.
Experimental freezing time
This study supplies information on the accuracy of
freezing time estimates applied in complex situations,
such as in low-cost equipment feasible for small agro
industries. It does not take into account the uncertainty
associated with estimates of thermophysical properties
Energy Efficiency

Fig. 5 Temperature history from

temperature sensors installed in
the box containing tank 5, which
was used as a test body

and surface heat transfer coefficients. Table 3

shows the experimental freezing times that were
obtained during the pulp freezing process without
and with airflow induction. These values were
obtained after the end of the process, when all of
the temperature sensors installed in the passion
fruit pulp registered −18 °C, for both cases. The
average reduction of the freezing time was 25 %
for the boxes located at the top and 20 % in the
base of the stack (Fig. 3).
Table 3 also shows the predicted values for the
freezing time and the errors between the predicted
and experimental values. The predicted freezing
times were obtained by applying average values
of convective heat transfer coefficients to rectan-
gular blocks. The results of the estimates of the
freezing times calculated using the experimental
data for h were in good agreement with the exper-
imental results. The average errors were 13 %
lower when the EAN form factor (Hossain et al.
1992) was tested without airflow induction, and
the average errors were under 2 % with airflow
induction. Table 3 shows that the airflow induction
on the stack of boxes reduced the freezing time.
The results are useful when choosing a process
configuration and take into consideration the fro-
zen passion fruit pulp quality, energy consumption,
aggregate values, and the final consumer for the
same cooling capacity of the system.

Fig. 6 Average convective heat transfer coefficients without, SD
(a) and with, CD airflow induction (b) obtained during the freezing
of boxes of passion fruit pulp located at positions (X=1.565, Y=
0.163), (X=1.565, Y=0.673), and (X=1.565, Y=1.183) in the stack
Energy consumption
Table 4 shows the electrical parameter values that were
measured during the pulp freezing process in the two
 Energy Efficiency

Fig. 7 Effects of airflow

alteration on the average
convective heat transfer
coefficient values measured at
different stack positions without
and with induced airflow

situations (without and with airflow induction). The number of batches per month (NBM), the monthly
electrical parameters were obtained after the end of the active energy (MAE), the monthly physical production
process when all of the temperature sensors in the pas- (MPP), the specific consumption (SC), and the charge
sion fruit pulp registered −18 °C. Table 4 also shows the factor (CF).

Table 3 Comparison between

experimental and predicted freez- Process hm (W/m2 °C) texp (h) tpred (EAN) (h) e (EAN) (%)
ing times
Without induction 7.599 40.13 45.19 12.61
With induction 10.419 32.37 32.76 1.20
Energy Efficiency

Table 4 Electrical parameters measured during the freezing process with and without induced airflow over the stack

Process QBAT (kg) AE (kWh) RE (kVArh) AD (kW) MAD (kW) texp,max (h)
Without induction 525 176.516 123.078 3.536 5.674 40.13
With induction 525 147.099 100.721 3.586 5.602 32.37
NBM MAE (kWh) MPP (kg) SC (kWh/kg) CF PF
Without induction 18 3,177.288 9,450 0.3362 0.7671 0.820
With induction 22 3,236.178 11,550 0.2802 0.7913 0.825

QBAT the quantity of fruit pulp processed per batch, AE active energy, RE reactive energy, AD active demand, MAD maximum active
demand, texp,max experimental freezing time, NBM number of batches per month, MAE monthly active energy, MPP monthly physical
production, SC specific consumption, CF charge factor, PF power factor

The number of batches per month, used to evaluate the
energy consumption during an interval of 30 days
(730 hours), was calculated using Eq. (14) (Reno et al.
2011).
730
NBM ¼
t exp;max
The MAE during the 30-day period was determined
using Eq. (15).
MAE ¼ NBMðEAÞ
The MPP during this period was determined using
Eq. (16) (RS-SENAI 2003).
MPP ¼ NMBðQBATÞ
The SC was calculated using Eq. (17), and the CF
was calculated using Eq. (18) (RS-SENAI 2003).
MAE
SC ¼
MPP
EAM
CF ¼
730ðMADÞ
Table 4 shows that the highest energy consumption
occurred when the pulp was frozen in boxes without
airflow induction on the stack (176.52 kWh), due to the
longer time necessary to completely freeze the samples.
The lowest energy consumption (147.10 kWh) occurred
when the pulp was frozen in boxes with directed airflow.
Table 4 also shows that the SC without directed airflow
(0.3362 kWh/kg of pulp) was higher than with directed
airflow (0.2802 kWh/kg of pulp). Directed airflow re-
duced the specific consumption by approximately
16.67 %.
Table 4 shows that the variation of the charge factor
was not significant when the configuration was altered.
The charge factor is the electrical parameter that repre-
sents the maximum degree of active demand. Usually,
the active demand is inversely proportional to the active
ð14Þ energy. However, in this case, the results showed that
this relationship was not significant. In other words,
there was a reduction at the expense of the active energy
and the demand remained constant when the obstacles
were installed to direct the airflow on the product.
ð15Þ During the processing of passion fruit pulp, the power
factor was slightly higher with airflow induction than
without induction.
It can also be observed in Table 4 that the reactive
ð16Þ energy for the configuration with induction was lower
than without induction. The power factor shows how
much of the total supplied power (kilovolt-ampere) is
used as active energy (kilowatt), and it indicates the
efficiency of the electrical system. When passion fruit
ð17Þ pulp was processed without airflow induction, the high
RE value indicated that the compressor motor operated
without a load longer than with airflow induction, where
the RE value was lower, and the cooling system operat-
ed more intensely to reduce the heat load. Therefore, the
ð18Þ airflow induction reduced the specific consumption by
approximately 16.67 % and increased the physical pro-
duction without compromising the quality and operation
of the electrical system.
Conclusions
In this work, a technique to measure heat transfer coef-
ficients based on the balance of transient energy in
boxes containing metal tanks filled with antifreeze so-
lutions (with known low-temperature thermal proper-
ties) was applied in a low-cost freezing tunnel that is

widely used by small producers who process passion
fruit pulp. A method for airflow induction, based on
obstacles that were quickly and easily installed, was
proposed and tested with the objective of reducing the
overall energy consumption. This method was shown to
be viable for applications in small facilities that process
up to 1,000 kg of frozen passion fruit pulp per day.
The installation of the obstacles to induce the airflow
did not alter the temperature and air velocity profiles. The
reduction of the temperature occurred more quickly and
the air velocity values were higher at the top of the stack.
The cooling was slower and the speed values were lower
at the base of the stack for the two configurations. The
average air velocity inside the freezing tunnel was altered
by the air induction. The installation of the slabs increased
the air velocity inside the freezing tunnel and
redistributed the flow through the stack. Consequently,
the effective heat transfer coefficients were higher when
there was airflow induction. The effective heat transfer
measurements were performed using a highly simplified
approach that can provide an indicative heat transfer
coefficients. The results proved that directing the airflow
under the stack of products to be cooled promotes more
efficient and uniform heat transfer.
The energy consumption was higher for the process-
ing without airflow induction because the processing
time was longer (40.13 h). The pulp froze with airflow
induction after 32.37 h of processing, on average. The
analysis of the electric parameters measured showed
that it is possible to reduce the specific consumption
by approximately 16.67 % and to increase the physical
production without compromising the operation of the
refrigeration equipment with airflow induction.
Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank the Fundação de
Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG-
Brazil), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e
Te c n o l ó g i c o ( C N P q - B r a z i l ) a n d C o o r d e n a ç ã o d e
Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES-Brazil)
for financial support for this research.
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