The Application of Barocaloric Solid-State Cooling in the Cold Food Chain for Carbon Footprint Reduction

Abstract

In this paper, the application of solid-state cooling based on the barocaloric effect in the cold food supply chain is investigated. Barocaloric solid-state technology is applied to the final links of the cold food supply chain regarding the steps of retail and domestic conservation. In this context, effective barocaloric cooling entails the refrigeration of food at 5 °C (273 K) and as such is a promising cooling technology due to its energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. The categories of food involved in this investigation are meat and fresh food products like soft cheese, yogurt, and milk. The energy performance of the barocaloric system is analyzed and compared with a commercial vapor compression refrigerator of a similar size, both operating using R600a under the same working conditions. Based on the results of this comparison, it is concluded that barocaloric cooling is a favorable technology for application in the final links of the cold food supply chain if the system operates in an ABR cycle at frequencies between 1.25 and 1.50 Hz with a regenerator comprising acetoxy silicone rubber as the solid-state refrigerant and a 50%EG–50% water mixture as the heat transfer fluid flowing at an optimal velocity of 0.15 m s−1. Thus, an appropriate tradeoff between the temperature span, cooling power, and coefficient of performance is guaranteed. Under these conditions, the barocaloric system outperforms the domestic vapor compression cooler operating using R600a.