ABSTRACT
With the ever-increasing cost of energy and attention to environmental problems, understanding energy use and exploring energy saving options is becoming a priority for the economic sector, including food and other bioprocesses. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) has been applied to predict the airflow, heat and mass transfers in postharvest handling of horticultural products along the cold chain. This chapter consolidates and relates various CFD techniques used to study the postharvest handling of produce, starting from the precooling to retail display. Stacking ventilated packages during cooling introduces another scale of complexity in CFD modeling of fresh produce cooling, especially due to misalignment of vent holes and increased requirement for better meshing of the domain. The modeling approaches are discussed following the normal path of the postharvest life of fruits: from precooling to cold storage, refrigerated transport, and retail (display) cooling. The main objective of the modeling task, basic procedure of the modeling approach and execution of the mathematical models are presented.
