COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF TEMPERATURE UNIFORMITY INDICES IN FORCED-AIR PRECOOLING OF CHERRIES USING CFD SIMULATION

作者：Binguang Jia, Ziyu Zhao, Xiaolong WANG, Junting WU, Ningning WEI, Xiaoming Wang · 发表于：INMATEH Agricultural Engineering · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.35633/inmateh-78-74 · 研究领域：Food Supply Chain Traceability、Postharvest Quality and Shelf Life Management、Food Drying and Modeling

Temperature uniformity (σ) during forced-air precooling of fruits and vegetables plays a critical role in preserving quality and extending shelf life. However, inconsistencies in evaluation criteria for calculating σ remain a significant challenge. In this study, cherries were selected as the model system, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were employed to analyze three commonly used temperature uniformity indices, namely σ1, σ2 and σ3. The results show that σ₁ is highly sensitive to variations in average temperature during forced-air precooling and becomes unsuitable when the average temperature approaches 0 °C. Moreover, σ₁ yields relatively large values, often exceeding 1. Both σ₂ and σ₃ primarily reflect variations in the temperature range during precooling. However, since σ₂ incorporates temperature in Kelvin in its denominator, its values are generally below 0.1. In contrast, σ₃ remains stable within the range of 0 to 1 throughout the precooling process. Overall, the results indicate that σ₃ is the most suitable index for evaluating temperature uniformity in fruits and vegetables during forced-air precooling.