Air temperature, relative humidity, and enthalpy phase space analysis: an innovative proposal for failures diagnosis in a cold chain

The evaluation of the cold chain can be faced from product harvesting in the fields up to the shelf life period in the consumerRSQUOs houses; while, at the same time, it is possible to assess the performance of the reefers or storage chambers.
Many low-cost-temperature-sensors have been deployed worldwide, either as WSN or multi-distributed RFID loggers, and are commonly used by the industry providing very limited analytics.
Recent studies have shown that it is not only the absolute temperature but its derivative, the responsible for relevant changes in fruit quality.
Also, the concept of phase analysis, an alternative procedure of analyzing time series, has demonstrated the interest of reproducing the dynamic behavior of a (refrigerated) system; where the reconstruction of the phase space from a time series uses time delays, and the value of the optimal time delays is obtained by heuristics.
In this paper we demonstrate the power of such new approach in three different scenarios: local production and distribution of fresh cut vegetables (Chile), the diagnosis of expansion valve malfunction in the refrigeration circuit of warehouses (Spain), and the characterization and supervision of transoceanic transports (Uruguay-Spain/lemons, Uruguay-Rotterdam-Italy/blueberries).

VIII International Postharvest Symposium: Enhancing Supply Chain and Consumer Benefits – Ethical and Technological Issues

E.C. Correa, B. Diezma, J. García-Hierro, J.I. Robla, T. Jiménez-Ariza, M. Gómez, A.C. Silveira, V. Escalona, F.J. Arranz, P. Barreiro

fresh vegetables, temperature gradients, refrigerated goods, cold room, reefer

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2018.1194.151